THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

OF 

JOHN  PAUL  JONES 


John  Paul  Jones. 

From  the  bust  by  Houdon  in  the  possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy 
of  the  Fine  Arts. 


THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

OF 

JOHN  PAUL  JONES 


BY 
MRS.    REGINALD    de    KOVEN 


ILLUSTRATED 


VOLUME    I 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1913 


COPTBIGHT,   1913,   BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  April,  1913 


CHARLES    B.    FARWELL 

WHO    SERVED 

HIS    COUNTRY    IN    BOTH    HOUSES    OF    CONGRESS 

FOR    UPWARD    OF    TWENTY    YEARS 

THIS    BOOK    IS    AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 

BY    HIS    DAUGHTER 


268685 


PREFACE 

The  fame  of  Paul  Jones  has  been  the  sport  of  romance 
and  the  plaything  of  tradition  ever  since  the  early  days 
of  his  glorious  association  with  America's  struggle  for 
independence.  Bringing  terror  to  the  simple  natives 
of  the  stricken  British  coasts  by  his  descents  upon  their 
unprotected  ports,  hero  of  wellnigh  impossible  ex- 
ploits and  of  battles  fought  by  moonlight  under  the  lee 
of  their  headlands,  his  name  passed  into  the  domain  of 
romantic  legend  and  was  one  to  conjure  with.  Chap- 
books  depicted  him  in  highly  colored  prints,  blood- 
thirsty and  terrible,  and  mothers  frightened  their  chil- 
dren with  the  bare  mention  of  his  name.  During  the 
years  shortly  following  his  death,  history  and  romance 
alike  were  busy  with  his  name.  But  these  histories  are 
now  out  of  print,  and  only  to  be  found  in  rare  collec- 
tions or  on  the  reference  shelves  of  public  libraries,  and 
the  romances  have  ceased  to  charm.  The  patriotic 
services  of  General  Horace  Porter  in  discovering  the 
hero's  forgotten  remains  and  bringing  them  to  America 
amid  manifold  honors  to  a  permanent  and  glorious 
resting-place  at  Annapolis  have  revived  public  interest 
in  his  character  and  deeds. 

No  one  of  the  ten  biographies  of  Jones  which  have 
been  written  may  properly  be  called  adequate,  as  none 
of  them  was  prepared  with  a  complete  and  comprehen- 
sive knowledge  of  the  existing  material,  with  exhaustive 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

research  for  unpublished  documents,  or  with  full  at- 
tention to  contemporary  memoirs  or  historical  publica- 
tions. 

Aside  from  the  official  documents  on  file  in  Wash- 
ington, Paris,  London,  and  St.  Petersburg,  which  re- 
late to  his  services,  Paul  Jones,  like  other  distinguished 
men  of  his  day,  kept  copies  of  his  correspondence,  pre- 
serving many  of  the  letters  which  he  received  and  auto- 
graph drafts  of  his  own  private  and  official  letters.  He 
left  these  papers  to  his  family  in  his  will.  His  eldest 
sister,  Mrs.  Taylor,  selected  from  the  collection  the 
portion  pertaining  to  his  American  services,  sending  it 
to  Robert  Hyslop,  a  solicitor  of  New  York.  Although 
considering  them  of  little  or  no  value,  Mr.  Hyslop  re- 
tained them  until  his  death,  when  they  passed  into  the 
hands  of  a  baker,  through  the  windows  of  whose  shop 
they  were  casually  seen  and  thereafter  acquired  by  Mr. 
George  A.  Ward,  who  communicated  the  news  of  his 
extraordinary  find  to  John  Henry  Sherburne,  Regis- 
trar of  the  Navy.  Mr.  Sherburne  immediately  set  about 
the  compilation  of  his  "Life  of  Paul  Jones,"  which  ap- 
peared in  the  year  1825,  in  which  he  published  many  of 
the  letters  and  official  documents. 

His  book  was  only  a  compilation,  lacking  chrono- 
logical sequence,  and  supplying  the  barest  facts  in 
regard  to  the  character  and  private  history  of  Jones. 
In  the  year  1830  a  well-written  book  based  on  the  docu- 
ments retained  by  Mrs.  Taylor  in  Scotland  was  pub- 
lished by  an  anonymous  author  in  Edinburgh.  It  em- 
bodied the  unpublished  journal  of  Jones's  Russian 
campaign,  and,  although  presumably  by  a  British  sub- 


PREFACE  ix 

ject,  was  unbiassed,  even  sympathetic,  in  its  analysis  of 
Jones's  character.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  book 
awakened  any  general  interest  in  Great  Britain,  or  that 
the  long-delayed  publication  of  the  true  facts  about 
Jones's  connection  with  the  Russian  navy  commanded 
any  attention  in  Europe.  In  the  same  year  in  which 
this  biography  appeared,  Miss  Janette  Taylor,  who  was 
filled  with  a  laudable  desire  to  defend  her  distinguished 
uncle's  reputation,  came  to  America  with  the  intention 
of  arranging  for  an  American  publication  of  all  the 
papers  in  the  possession  of  her  family.  She  offered  the 
letters  to  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York,  which  was 
too  poor  to  buy  them;  she  then  sought  for  an  editor, 
and  found  one  in  the  person  of  Robert  Sands,  who  made 
in  the  greatest  haste  as  ill-composed  a  volume  as  that 
of  Sherburne,  full  of  mistakes  and  of  much  bombastic 
comment  upon  the  principles  of  democracy.  The  book, 
however,  is  the  fullest  printed  repository  of  the  papers 
which  were  brought  to  America  by  Miss  Taylor,  and 
which  have  unfortunately  disappeared.  The  journal  of 
the  Russian  campaign,  another  journal,  the  rough  draft 
probably  of  that  prepared  for  Louis  XVI,  together  with 
many  private  papers,  have  never  been  traced  since  Miss 
Taylor  gave  them  to  Robert  Sands.  Jones  left  a  few 
papers  with  John  Ross  in  Philadelphia,  when  he  returned 
to  France  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  These  let- 
ters, with  several  which  were  originally  consulted  by 
Sherburne,  have  strayed  into  the  hands  of  dealers  and 
have  been  acquired  by  the  various  owners  of  the  private 
collections  of  Jones's  letters. 
A  short  biography,  written  by  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady 


x  PREFACE 

for  the  Great  Commander  series,  published  in  1900, 
contains  some  new  facts  in  regard  to  Paul  Jones's 
adoption  of  his  name  from  Willie  and  Allen  Jones  of 
North  Carolina. 

These  four  books  contain  the  authentic  printed 
material  regarding  Jones.  A  brief  biographical  essay 
written  anonymously  by  Benjamin  Disraeli  was  pub- 
lished immediately  after  the  appearance  of  Sherburne's 
compilation  in  London  by  John  Murray.  In  1841 
Captain  Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  of  the  United 
States  navy,  at  the  suggestion  of  Jared  Sparks,  who  had 
collected  material  for  a  proposed  biography  of  Jones, 
produced  an  undocumented  book,  valuable  as  a  pro- 
fessional estimate  of  Jones's  services  but  strangely 
biassed  and  critical  in  its  attitude  toward  his  character. 
None  of  the  material  collected  by  Sparks  and  now  pre- 
served in  the  Harvard  library  was  utilized  in  Macken- 
zie's biography,  although  it  had  all  been  put  at  his 
disposition.  An  exhaustive  examination  of  all  the 
documents  in  the  Government  archives  of  the  United 
States,  England,  France,  and  Russia,  of  all  those  exist- 
ing in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Historical  and  Philosophical  Societies,  of  the 
manuscripts  in  the  Harvard,  Boston,  and  New  York 
public  libraries,  of  the  private  collections  of  Jones's 
manuscripts  owned  by  Messrs.  Morgan,  Barnes,  Har- 
beck,  Kane,  Bixby,  and  the  late  John  Boyd  Thacher, 
has  brought  to  light  an  astonishing  amount  of  new  ma- 
terial. Unknown  incidents  in  Jones's  life  have  been 
discovered,  and  several  persons  mysteriously  referred 
to  in  his  correspondence  and  importantly  connected 


PREFACE  xi 

with  his  career  have  been  identified.  For  the  courteous 
permission  to  examine  and  copy  the  documents  in  these 
private  collections  grateful  acknowledgment  is  made,  as 
well  as  for  the  able  and  invariably  prompt  attention  to 
requests  for  facts  and  information  given  by  Mr.  Chas. 
W.  Stewart,  Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Records  in 
Washington,  and  his  assistant,  Mrs.  Annie  H.  Eastman. 
Particular  thanks  are  due  to  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Townsend 
Brady  for  the  use  of  the  original  maps  and  data  sup- 
plied to  him  by  the  chief  of  the  topographical  section 
of  the  imperial  Russian  general  staff;  to  Commander 
Fulham,  of  the  Naval  Station  at  Lake  Bluff,  Illinois, 
for  the  information  supplied  relating  to  the  system  of 
fire  control  existing  at  the  present  day  in  comparison 
with  that  employed  during  the  time  of  Paul  Jones's  ser- 
vice in  the  American  navy;  to  M.  le  Vasseur  and  M.  de 
Magellan  for  their  careful  and  conscientious  researches 
in  the  uncatalogued  libraries  and  government  archives 
of  Paris,  and  for  a  like  labor  assumed  by  Madam  Olga 
Stiirck  in  St.  Petersburg.  Personal  letters  from  the 
late  Colonel  Wharton  Green,  of  Fayetteville,  North 
Carolina,  containing  the  statements  made  to  him  by 
individuals  who  had  actually  known  Paul  Jones,  have 
served  in  conjunction  with  other  hitherto  unpublished 
material  to  throw  light  upon  the  obscure  period  of  his 
life  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Charles 
T.  Gallagher,  secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts, has  supplied  a  copy  of  the  justificatory  papers 
acquired  by  his  lodge  from  Madame  Gombault,  the 
great-grandniece  of  Paul  Jones,  which  accompanied  the 
lost  copy  of  his  journal  of  his  Russian  campaign.  These 


xu  PREFACE 

papers,  from  which  only  brief  excerpts  had  been  pub- 
lished in  the  foot-notes  of  the  Sands  compilation,  are  of 
the  utmost  value  in  proving  the  veracity  of  Jones's  own 
statements  regarding  his  services  in  the  Russian  navy. 
The  letters  which  Mrs.  Taylor  sent  to  America,  and 
which  formed  the  basis  of  Sherburne's  biography,  were 
eventually  acquired  by  Peter  Force  and  bought  by  the 
Congressional  Library  in  the  year  1867.  This  collection, 
with  the  additional  and  still  uncatalogued  papers  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  containing  Jones's  letters  to  the 
Marine  Committee,  together  with  the  above-mentioned 
private  and  public  collections  of  documents,  have  fur- 
nished the  largest  portion  of  the  new  information  con- 
tained in  the  following  pages.  A  conscientious  effort  has 
been  made  by  the  minute  examination  of  all  discover- 
able documents  and  a  careful  correlation  of  the  informa- 
tion thus  obtained,  in  connection  with  the  records  of 
contemporaneous  history,  to  elucidate  the  hitherto  ob- 
scure and  misunderstood  periods  and  aspects  of  the 
career  of  Paul  Jones,  and  thereby  to  present  a  final  and 
truthful  estimate  of  his  life  and  character. 

Anna  Farwell  de  Koven. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.    Childhood  and  Youth 3 

II.    Period  of  Adventure 22 

III.  Change  of  Name 52 

IV.  Beginnings  of  the  American  Navy     ...  72 
V.    First  Independent  Command 108 

VI.      SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK 146 

VII.    The  Founding  of  the  Navy 163 

VIII.    The  "Ranger" 198 

IX.    Arrival  in  Europe 230 

X.    The  Cruise  of  the  "Ranger" 270 

XI.    The  Selkirk  Raid 298 

XII.    Simpson 330 

XIII.  Waiting  for  a  Command 369 

XIV.  The  Battle  of  the  "Bon  Homme  Richard" 

AND  THE   "SERAPIS" 431 


X1U 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


John  Paul  Jones Frontispiece 

From  the  bust  by  Houdon  in  the  possession  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts. 

FACING 
PAGE 

The  Birthplace  of  John  Paul  Jones  at  Arbigland, 
Scotland 6 

Notes  in  John  Philip  Kemble's  Handwriting,  Stating 
that  Jones  was  an  Actor  in  Jamaica      ....       14 

Willie  Jones 54 

"The  Grove,"  the  Residence  of  Willie  Jones  .     .      58 

After  an  old  print. 

The  Tombstone  of  William  Paul     ......      74 

Building  in  Fredericksburg  where  William  Paul's 
Shop  was  Located 74 

Commodore  Ezek  Hopkins 90 

From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 

Joseph  Hewes 124 

The  Residence  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  at  Saint 
Mary's  Isle,  which  was  Pulled  Down  in  1891      .     302 

Diagram  of  the  Engagement  with  the  "Serapis"   .     450 

The  Fight  of  the  "Serapis"  and  the  "Bon  Homme 
Richard" 452 

From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 
XV 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


Captain  Paul  Jones   Subduing   a   Sailor  who   At- 
tempted to  Strike  His  Colors  in  the  Engagement 

WITH  THE   "SERAPIS" 456 

From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 

MAP 

Cruise  of  the  "Bon  Homme  Richard" 432 


ERRATA 

Vol.  I 

Page  71,  note,  line  7,  for  friendliness — read  friendlessness. 

Page  188,  note,  after  October  17— insert  1776. 

Page  205,  line  4,  for  Baron  Beaumarchais — read  Caron  de  Bcaumarchais. 

Page  274,  line  18,  for  Firth  of  Forth — read  Solway  Firth. 

Page  275,  line  8,  for  Glenbue  Bay — read  Luce  Bay. 

Page  275,  line  18,  for  Loughryan — read  Loch  Ryan. 

Page  276,  line  16,  for  "  attack  " — read  "  a  tack." 

Page  300,  note,  last  line,  for  Salkirk — read  Selkirk. 

Vol.   II 

Page  176,  last  line,  for  Pinkney — read  Hinckley. 

Page  232,  note,  for  "  the  letter  of  October  10  " — read  "  the  Sherburne  selection. 

Page  265,  note,  for  1837— read  1826. 

Page  483,  line  9,  for  Cornil — read  Capitan. 

Page  483,  line  15,  for  Capitan — read  Cornil. 


XVI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Captain  Paul  Jones  Subduing  a  Sailor  who  At- 
tempted to  Strike  His  Colors  in  the  Engagement 
with  the  "Serapis" 456 

From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 


MAP 

Cruise  of  the  "Bon  Homme  Richard" 


432 


JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

VOLUME   I 


CHAPTER  I 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

On  the  southernmost  border  of  Scotland,  where  the 
curving  shore  turns  eastward  into  the  Solway  Firth, 
two  estates  belonging  originally  to  the  Earls  of  Selkirk 
occupy  many  acres  of  hill  and  forest.  The  estate  of 
Arbigland,  which  lay  to  the  south,  was  sold  in  the  year 
1722  to  the  family  of  Craik  by  the  third  Earl  of  Selkirk. 
The  northern  estate,  stretching  along  the  banks  of  the 
River  Dee,  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Selkirk 
family.  Its  castle  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
on  a  lovely  wooded  promontory  called  Saint  Mary's 
Isle,  overlooking  a  bay  of  the  Irish  Sea.  Across  the 
bay  toward  the  north  lies  the  little  town  of  Kirkcud- 
bright, a  seaport  of  the  county  of  the  same  name,  in 
which  both  estates  are  situated.  Arbigland,  occupying 
a  verdant  plateau  among  the  mountains,  which  slope 
upward  from  the  rugged  Solway  shore,  is  situated  in 
the  parish  of  Kirkbean  at  the  other  end  of  the  county 
some  fifteen  miles  away. 

Upon  inheriting  the  latter  estate,  Robert  Craik, 
country  squire  and  member  of  Parliament,  engaged 
John  Paul,  a  landscape  gardener  of  the  town  of  Leith, 
to  lay  out  the  property.  George  Paul,  his  brother,  was 
employed  in  a  similar  capacity  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle. 
The  two  brothers  belonged  to  a  family  long  resident  in 

3 


'«  i  »  r    a  „»•  »      •    *• 


4  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Fife;  but  their  father  had  removed  to  Leith,  and  had 
kept  what  was  called  a  "mail  garden" — a  combination 
of  tavern  and  market-garden — in  that  town.  This 
business  the  sons  inherited  from  their  father,  but,  hav- 
ing become  versed  in  the  higher  forms  of  landscape 
gardening,  they  abandoned  the  tavern  and  soon  ob- 
tained advantageous  positions  in  the  practice  of  their 
new  profession  on  the  two  estates. 

Shortly  before  entering  the  service  of  Mr.  Craik, 
John  Paul  married  Jeannie  McDuff,  a  daughter  of  a 
family  of  free  landholders  long  resident  in  the  county. 
The  children  of  the  family  were  seven:  William,  the 
eldest  son;  Elizabeth,  who  died  unmarried;  Jane,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Taylor,  a  watchmaker  in  Dum- 
fries; Mary  Ann,  first  married  to  Mr.  Young  and  sec- 
ondly to  Mr.  Lowden;  two  other  children,  who  died  in 
infancy;  and  John  Paul,  the  fifth  of  the  surviving 
children,  who  first  saw  the  light,  according  to  the 
statement  of  his  relatives,  on  July  6,  1747.  This  son 
is  known  to  history  as  John  Paul  Jones. 

The  profession  of  landscape  gardening  was  held  in 
high  repute  in  Scotland  in  those  days,  and  was  followed 
by  a  superior  class  of  men,  who  invariably  enjoyed  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  their  employers.  That  the 
family  of  John  Paul  were  admitted  to  terms  of  intimacy 
and  friendship  with  their  patron  is  attested  by  letters 
of  Paul  Jones  himself  to  Mr.  Craik,  as  well  as  by  those 
of  his  niece,  Jane  Taylor,  who  refers  to  Miss  Helen 
Craik,  a  daughter  of  the  house,  as  her  companion  and 
life-long  correspondent. 

The  mother  of  the  illustrious  son,  who  was  destined 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  5 

to  attract  so  much  attention  to  her  humble  family  and 
estate,  received  with  her  children  and  grandchildren 
that  care  for  her  necessities  from  her  master,  both  before 
and  after  her  husband's  early  death,  which  was  habitu- 
ally given  by  Scotch  landlords  to  their  tenants  and  ser- 
vants. George  Paul's  master,  the  octogenarian,  John 
Raglan,  third  Earl  of  Selkirk,  was  for  the  most  part  an 
absentee,  residing  at  Edinburgh.  Paul  Jones's  earliest 
recollections,  according  to  his  own  statement,1  were  not 
of  Arbigland,  but  of  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  where,  in  the  care 
of  his  reputed  father's  brother,  he  evidently  spent  his 
earliest  years.  There  in  its  gardens,  on  its  wooded 
shore,  and  in  the  neighboring  village  of  Kirkcudbright, 
he  roamed  at  will,  for  after  the  death  of  the  old  earl, 
in  1744,  George  Paul  still  remained  in  charge  of  the 
estate,  in  the  absence  of  the  new  owner.  Some  six 
years  later  he  removed  with  all  his  family  to  Kirkcud- 
bright, where,  until  his  death  in  1753,  he  kept  a  nursery.2 
The  fact  that  George  Paul  was  employed  as  gardener 
to  the  third  Lord  Selkirk  has  never  been  mentioned 
by  any  of  the  biographers  of  Paul  Jones,  but  it  has 
great  significance  in  accounting  for  the  many  rumors 
and  printed  statements  in  Scotch  school-books  and 
biographical  dictionaries  which  have  connected  him 


1 "  Narrative  of  Thomas  Chase,"  chap.  II. 

■  Notes  made  by  W.  C.  McCleod,  of  Kirkcudbright,  bundle  II,  no.  31 : 
"Summons  at  the  instance  of  William  Millar  seedman  in  Abbey  of  Holy 
Rood  House,  against  George  John  Elizabeth  and  Margaret  Paul  and 
Andrew  White  Boatman  husband  of  the  said  Margaret  Paul  for  his 
interest  as  heirs  and  executors  of  the  decased  George  Paul  gardiner 
in  Kircudbright  for  14  2  5.  sterling  to  be  paid  to  the  said  William 
Millar  with  execution  thereof  and  Bill  therein  narrated  dated  Oct  22 
1750.  October  30  1753." 


6  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

with  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  and  for  his  own  later  and  sin- 
gular attitude  toward  the  Selkirk  family. 

Always  within  sight  of  blue  water,  whether  at  Saint 
Mary's  Isle  or  at  his  mother's  cottage  at  Arbigland,  on 
the  shores  of  the  firth,  his  early  taste  for  a  seafaring 
life  was  naturally  fostered.  From  the  slopes  of  Arbig- 
land the  child  could  watch  the  sailing  of  the  ships 
and  the  tide  as  it  heaved  up  the  Solway.  To  the  north 
his  eyes  dwelt  on  the  granite  walls  of  CrirTel.  To  the 
south,  across  the  dividing  arm  of  the  sea,  he  could 
descry  the  dim  blue  shapes  of  the  English  mountains, 
Helvellyn,  Skiddaw,  and  the  Saddleback.  The  region 
is  full  of  the  romantic  associations  of  border  warfare, 
its  heights  still  crowned  with  the  castles  of  Scotland's 
bold  defenders.  The  mountains  told  their  tales  of 
prowess  to  the  dreaming  boy,  and  the  beckoning  sea 
lured  him  to  adventure. 

While  yet  a  tiny  child  it  was  his  custom  to  wan- 
der off  to  the  Carsethorn  at  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Nith,  where  he  listened  to  the  stories  of  the  mariners. 
From  them  he  learned  his  first  skill  in  managing  his 
little  sail-boat  and  conceived  his  first  interest  in  Amer- 
ica. The  village  legends  still  alive  at  Kirkcudbright 
bear  witness  to  his  early  talent  for  seamanship  when 
he  was  yet  more  child  than  boy.  Words  of  command 
caught  from  the  lips  of  his  sailor-teachers  he  was  wont 
to  repeat  to  a  company  of  subjugated  playfellows  as- 
sembled in  their  mimic  ships,  while  he  assumed  a  su- 
perior place  upon  a  rocky  eminence  on  the  shore  and 
in  a  loud  voice  directed  the  manoeuvres;  and  often  he 
would  launch  his  little  boat  alone  upon  the  waters, 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  7 

calling  out  to  his  imaginary  crew  in  words  of  authority 
and  command — the  hero  in  miniature,  prophetic  and 
engaging  picture! 

As  he  grew  older  he  attended  the  parish  school  of 
Kirkbean  and  was  proficient  in  his  studies;  but  a, 
roving  spirit  was  in  the  air,  and  the  lad  soon  gave  prom- 
ise of  unusual  independence  and  an  active  imagina- 
tion. It  was  the  day  of  England's  imperial  expansion, 
and  many  of  her  sons  were  moved  to  leave  their  home 
shores  on  errands  of  glory  or  of  gain.  William,  his 
eldest  brother,  early  departed  for  America.  A  son  of 
George  Paul  also  emigrated  to  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  settled  there  as  a  merchant,  where  Paul 
Jones's  youngest  sister,  Mary  Ann,  was  destined  to 
reside  as  the  wife  of  Mr.  Lowden,  also  a  merchant  in 
that  city. 

Not  only  did  the  sons  of  the  two  gardeners  depart 
for  the  new  land  across  the  seas,  but  a  son  of  Robert 
Craik  as  well  was  caught  with  the  adventuresome 
contagion,  and  against  his  father's  will  decided  to  cast 
in  his  lot  with  the  already  rebellious  colonists.  This 
son,  illegitimate,  but  acknowledged  and  protected  by 
his  father  until  this  act  of  disobedience,  became  that 
distinguished  Doctor  Craik,  of  Alexandria,  Washing- 
ton's trusted  physician  as  well  as  friend  and  legatee. 

At  the  early  age  of  twelve  John  Paul  was  taken  from 
his  lessons  and  apprenticed  to  Mr.  Younger,  a  merchant 
in  the  American  trade,  residing  in  the  English  port  of 
Whitehaven,  across  the  firth.  By  him  he  was  taken 
aboard  the  ship  Friendship,  bound  for  the  Rappahan- 
nock, in  Virginia.    The  Friendship  anchored  a  few  miles 


8  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

only  from  Fredericksburg,  where  his  brother  William 
had  made  his  home,  and  with  his  brother  he  passed  his 
time  while  he  was  in  port.  His  romantic  sympathy 
with  America,  which  he  had  imbibed  while  still  a  child 
in  Scotland,  was  now  still  further  fostered  by  his  resi- 
dence in  America  itself,  "the  country  of  his  fond  predi- 
lection/' as  he  always  called  it,  "since  his  earliest  boy- 
hood." In  the  half-settled  colony  of  Virginia  there 
were  undoubtedly  many  opportunities  for  adventure 
of  all  sorts  most  tempting  to  John  Paul's  active  and 
imaginative  mind.  But  during  the  years  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship he  spent  all  of  his  time  while  in  port,  both 
in  Virginia  and  at  home  in  Scotland,  in  the  assiduous 
study  of  his  chosen  profession.  His  aggressive,  acquis- 
itive mind  was  already  busily  at  work  searching  what- 
ever work  of  navigation  he  could  lay  hands  on.  Still 
hardly  more  than  a  child,  he  realized,  with  the  same 
precocious  wisdom  which  Hamilton  showed  at  a  simi- 
lar age,  that  a  foundation  of  wide  knowledge  was 
imperative  for  one  who  would  win  his  spurs  in  world 
adventure. 

During  these  years  he  returned  for  brief  periods  only 
to  Scotland,  where  at  the  termination  of  one  of  his 
voyages  he  found  himself  thrown  out  of  employment, 
owing  to  the  failure  of  his  employer,  Mr.  Younger. 
Having  been  fortunate  enough,  while  still  a  mere  lad, 
to  have  engaged  the  interest  of  the  Duke  of  Queens- 
bury,  who,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  brother-in-law,  the 
third  Lord  Selkirk,  had  noticed  him  in  the  garden  of 
Saint  Mary's  Isle,  young  Paul  now  applied  to  him  for 
assistance,  with  the  result  that  the  duke  recommended 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  9 

him  to  a  commander  in  the  royal  navy,  who  appointed 
him  to  a  position  as  acting  midshipman  in  the  ser- 
vice. He  retained  this  position  for  several  years,  gain- 
ing in  valuable  experience  and  that  intimacy  with 
"many  officers  of  note  in  the  British  Navy"  to  which 
he  refers  in  his  later  letters  to  Robert  Morris1  in  re- 
gard to  the  establishment  of  the  navy  of  America. 

A  further  reference,  which  could  only  pertain  to  this 
period  in  Jones's  life,  is  found  in  a  paper  prepared  in 
the  year  1783  for  Morris,  in  which  he  states  that  he 
had  "sailed  before  this  revolution  in  armed  ships  and 
frigates."  These  plain  statements,  coupled  with  the 
familiarity  he  showed  with  the  rules  and  training  of 
the  British  naval  officers,  as  most  usefully  employed 
in  the  drilling  of  the  raw  colonial  seamen  on  the  flag- 
ship2 of  the  first  American  fleet,  have  never  been  ac- 
counted for  by  any  of  his  biographers. 

The  facts  which  are  now  presented  for  the  first  time 
furnish  a  highly  satisfactory  as  well  as  interesting  ex- 
planation of  Jones's  statements,  and  the  evidence  is 
complete.  The  letters  in  which  he  makes  these  singu- 
lar and  hitherto  mysterious  references  were  written 
in  the  earliest  period  of  his  American  service,  many 
years  before  his  glorious  experience  in  Europe  had 
raised  him  to  a  position  where  he  could  have  had  any 
opportunity  of  intimacy  with  "British  officers  of  note," 
and  then  only  after  the  close  of  the  war  in  which  he 
had  fought  on  the  American  side. 

A  statement  of  the  facts  in  regard  to  Jones's  service 

1  Letter  to  Robert  Morris,  September  4,  1776. 
*  Letter  to  Joseph  Hewes,  May  19, 1776. 


10  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

in  the  British  navy  is  found  in  a  review  of  Sherburne's 
"Life  of  Paul  Jones"  printed  in  a  number  of  the 
United  States  Literary  Gazette  of  the  year  1825.  This 
was  a  well-known  monthly  magazine  published  in  New 
York  City,  and  the  review  appeared  in  its  columns 
immediately  after  the  production  of  Sherburne's  work. 
It  contains  a  contemporary  opinion  of  Jones's  life  and 
character,  with  quotations  from  statements  made  to 
the  reviewer  by  a  living  and  intimate  acquaintance  of 
Paul  Jones.  The  reviewer  prints  a  letter  written  at  his 
request  by  this  friend  of  Jones's,  and  assures  his  readers 
that  the  author's  veracity  is  unquestionable.  He  com- 
ments upon  the  paucity  of  personal  information  concern- 
ing Jones  in  Sherburne's  work,  saying  that  the  author 
should  have  taken  pains  to  gain  information  from  in- 
dividuals still  living  who  had  known  Jones  personally. 
The  reviewer  writes: 

Although  Mr.  Sherburne  states  that  Lord  Selkirk 
knew  nothing  of  Paul  Jones  or  his  father,  a  gentleman 
who  was  a  fellow  lodger  with  the  Chevalier  in  Paris, 
had  it  from  himself  that  his  father  was  the  gardener  of 
Lord  Selkirk,  and  that  the  old  Duke  of  Queensbury 
who  was  an  occasional  visitor  at  Lord  Selkirk's,  had 
noticed  him  while  taking  walks  in  the  garden,  and 
patted  him  on  the  head,  and  that  the  Duke  subse- 
quently procured  him  a  midshipman's  warrant  and 
placed  him  in  the  Royal  Navy.1 

The  above  statement  is  the  only  one  made  by  Paul 
Jones  in  regard  to  his  parentage. 
The  letter  of  Jones's  fellow-lodger,  with  its  intimate 

1  Appendix  A. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  11 

details  and  ample  information,  evidently  supplied  to 
him  first-hand  from  the  lips  of  Jones  himself,  deserves 
the  most  careful  consideration. 

Dear  Sir: — 

I  have  gone  through  the  life  and  character  of  Paul 
Jones  by  Mr.  Sherburne  which  you  kindly  sent  me.  It 
appears  to  be  as  correctly  given  as  the  materials  from 
which  it  is  selected  and  the  time  which  has  elapsed 
since  the  circumstances  occurred  would  permit. 

If  my  memory  is  faithful,  Commodore  Jones  told 
me  soon  after  his  return  from  Russia,  that  his  parents 
were  in  obscure  situations.  That  by  accident  he  was 
known  to  the  old  late  Duke  of  Queensbury,  who  intro- 
duced him  in  early  life  to  a  commander  in  the  British 
Navy.  That  he  was  placed  on  board  a  British  Man-of- 
War  as  acting  midshipman,  where  he  continued  some 
time;  how  long  I  do  not  remember,  but  long  enough  to 
perceive  that  family  interest  had  more  influence  than 
personal  merit.  His  juniors  were  promoted  while  he 
remained  unnoticed;  this  determined  him  to  enter  the 
merchant  service  where  he  continued  until  about  two 
years  before  the  Revolution  commenced.  So  that  at 
the  time  he  engaged  in  our  service  he  stood  in  the  same 
position  in  regard  to  England  with  every  native  Amer- 
ican. A  recurrence  to  the  correspondence  of  Lieu- 
tenant Jones  with  the  Honorable  Mr.  Hewes  I  think 
will  fully  prove  that  he  had  previously  received  some 
education  in  the  profession  in  which  he  so  eminently 
distinguished  himself  during  our  Revolutionary  War.1 

Following  the  words  of  Jones's  statement  that  the 
Duke  of  Queensbury  met  him  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle  and 
"subsequently"  procured  him  his  appointment  in  the 

1  For  the  rest  of  this  letter,  see  Appendix  A. 


12  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

British  navy,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  duke's  in- 
terest dated  from  the  time  when  he  came  across  the 
promising  child  in  the  garden  of  Lord  Selkirk's  estate; 
and  that  it  was  not  until  after  young  Paul's  release 
from  his  apprenticeship  to  Mr.  Younger  and  his  ensu- 
ing application  for  assistance  to  the  duke  that  he  rec- 
ommended him  for  the  position  in  the  navy. 

On  leaving  the  navy  he  engaged  as  third  mate  on 
the  slaver  King  George  at  Whitehaven,  and  afterward 
was  employed  as  chief  mate  on  another  slaver,  the  Two 
Friends.  His  prompt  advancement  to  the  latter  respon- 
sible position  is  conclusive  evidence  of  his  already  accom- 
plished seamanship  and  of  his  firm  and  reliable  character. 

During  the  years  of  his  voyages  he  visited  not  only 
the  West  India  islands,  but  also  the  coasts  of  Africa 
and  Spain.  He  had  been  forced  to  witness  much 
cruelty  during  the  periods  he  passed  in  this  employ- 
ment, and  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn,  on  the  authority 
of  his  relatives,  that  as  he  grew  to  manhood  he  was 
unable  to  countenance  the  enormities  of  a  trade  which 
was  the  foundation  of  many  of  the  large  fortunes  of 
Liverpool  and  Glasgow  as  well  as  those  of  the  British 
colonies  in  America. 

In  this  attitude  he  showed  a  degree  of  high-minded- 
ness  far  in  advance  of  his  time,  but  after  two  years  in 
this  uncongenial  service,  he  abandoned  his  position  in 
uncontrollable  disgust  and  found  himself  in  Jamaica 
in  the  year  1768  alone  and  without  employment. 
While  waiting  for  a  passage  back  to  Scotland  he  ac- 
cepted a  position  as  an  actor  in  the  company  of  John 
Moody,  which  was  then  playing  in  Jamaica.    Moody 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  13 

was  a  well-known  Irish  actor  who  had  himself  spent 
several  years  in  the  English  islands  playing  "Ham- 
let" and  other  Shakespearian  roles.  He  returned  to 
England  in  the  year  17j^9  and  there  gained  great  repu- 
tation through  his  character  parts.  A  few  years  later 
he  sent  a  theatrical  company  bearing  his  name  to  the 
West  Indies.  In  this  company  the  young  John  Paul 
was  engaged  for  a  brief  period.  This  fact  has  been 
curiously  made  known  in  the  handwriting  of  John 
Philip  Kemble,  Moody's  great  contemporary  and  inti- 
mate friend.  In  a  note  appended  to  the  title  of  a  life 
of  Jones,  included  in  a  catalogue  of  his  library,  Kemble 
states  that  "This  celebrated  man  was  an  actor  in  the 
same  company  with  Mr.  Moody  in  Jamaica,  and  made 
his  first  appearance  on  the  stage  in  the  character  of 
the  young  Bevil  in  'The  Conscious  Lovers.'" 

This  temporary  employment  did  not  strongly  ap- 
peal to  the  young  sailor,  or  wean  him  from  his  love  of 
the  sea,  for  he  soon  engaged  passage  on  board  the  John, 
of  Kirkcudbright,  and  started  on  his  voyage  back  to 
Scotland.  During  the  passage,  both  officers,  Captain 
MacCadam  and  his  first  mate,  died  of  fever,  and  there 
being  no  one  else  on  board  capable  of  taking  com- 
mand, the  young  John  Paul  brought  the  vessel  safely 
into  port.  This  unexpected  opportunity  brought  him 
into  high  favor  with  the  owners  of  the  ship,  Currie 
Beck  &  Company,  a  firm  of  West  India  merchants 
resident  in  Kirkcudbright,  and  he  was  forthwith  ap- 
pointed master  and  supercargo  of  the  John. 

Thus  promptly  he  received  reward  for  his  abandon- 
ment of  the  lucrative   but   abominable   slave-trade, 


14  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

in  the  shape  of  an  advantageous  connection  with 
reputable  merchants  and  his  first  full  command  of  a 
ship.  The  first  voyage  which  he  made  as  master 
of  the  John  was  conducted  successfully,  but  on  the 
second,  while  he  was  engaged  in  loading  his  vessel 
at  the  island  of  Tobago,  he  was  compelled  to  flog  a 
disobedient  sailor,  with  results  which  were  destined 
to  involve  him  in  serious  complications  and  difficul- 
ties. 

This  was  in  the  spring  of  1770,  while  John  Paul  was 
unloading  the  cargo  he  had  brought  from  Scotland. 
The  carpenter  of  the  John  was  lazy,  disrespectful  to 
his  commander,  and  finally  openly  mutinous.  After 
various  ineffectual  efforts  to  control  him,  Paul  finally 
resorted  to  the  method,  then  in  general  use,  of  flogging 
the  delinquent.  The  man,  whose  name  was  Mungo 
Maxwell,  went  before  James  Simpson,  judge  of  a  vice- 
admiralty  court  then  in  session  in  Tobago,  and  made 
a  complaint.  The  judge  examined  the  man's  stripes, 
which  he  found  of  no  importance,  and  dismissed  the 
complaint  as  frivolous.  Six  weeks  later,  in  perfect 
health,  Maxwell  shipped  on  board  a  Barcelona  packet 
and  left  the  island.  Paul  remained  in  the  West  Indies 
for  a  number  of  months,  engaged  in  occupations  which 
he  set  forth  in  the  following  letter  to  his  patron,  Mr. 
Craik: 

St.  George,  Granada, 

5th  of  August,  1770. 
Sir:— 

Common  report  here  says  that  my  owners  are  going 
to  finish  their  connections  in  the  West  Indies  as  fast 
as  possible.    How  far  this  is  true,  I  shall  not  pretent  to 


I  J  i* 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  15 

judge,  but  should  that  really  prove  the  case,  you  know 
the  disadvantages  I  must  of  course  labor  under.  These, 
however,  would  not  have  been  so  great  had  I  been  ac- 
quainted with  the  matter  sooner,  as  in  that  case  I 
believe  I  could  have  made  interest  with  some  gentle- 
men here  to  have  been  concerned  with  me  in  the  large 
ship  out  of  London,  and  as  these  gentlemen  have  es- 
tates in  this  and  the  adjoining  Islands  I  should  have 
been  able  to  make  two  voyages  every  year,  and  always 
have  a  full  ship  out  and  home.  However,  I  by  no 
means  repine,  as  it  is  a  maxim  with  me  to  do  my  best, 
and  leave  the  rest  with  Providence. 

I  shall  take  no  step  whatever  without  your  knowl- 
edge and  approbation.  I  have  had  several  very  se- 
vere fevers  lately  which  have  reduced  me  a  good  deal, 
though  I  am  now  perfectly  recovered. 

I  must  beg  you  to  supply  my  mother  should  she  want 
anything,  as  I  well  know  your  readiness. 

I  hope  yourself  and  family  enjoy  health  and  happi- 
ness. Sir,  Yours  always, 

John  Paul. 

Although  far  from  comprehending  his  own  very  un- 
usual endowments  at  this  early  period,  his  common- 
sense  and  practical  ability  evidently  impressed  all 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  the  candor 
and  sincerity  of  his  demeanor  invariably  made  him 
friends.  He  was  still  very  youthful,  self-educated, 
humble  in  birth,  and  only  the  hired  commander  of  a 
small  Scotch  merchantman,  yet  he  enjoyed  close  and 
friendly  relations  with  the  leading  men  and  merchants 
of  Tobago. 

This  island  is  the  southernmost  of  the  Windward 
group  and  lies  slightly  north  of  Trinidad.    Being  moun- 


16  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

tainous  and  salubrious  in  climate,  it  had  been  brought 
to  a  high  state  of  cultivation  by  the  successive  col- 
onists of  France  and  England  who  had  occupied  it. 
Its  shape,  volcanic,  like  its  sister  islands,  was  like  the 
green  mound  of  a  melon,  with  fertile  valleys  running 
in  deep  indentations  from  its  summit  to  the  water's 
rim.  Wide  mansion-houses,  built  of  English  brick 
and  perched  on  eminences  half-way  up  the  slope,  looked 
out  upon  the  surrounding  ocean  and  down  upon  the 
little  capital  town  of  Scarborough,  on  the  southwest- 
ern corner  of  the  island,  at  the  edge  of  Rockley  Bay. 
Here  the  business  and  the  government  of  Tobago  were 
conducted,  and  in  this  bay  the  young  John  Paul  was 
wont  to  moor  his  ship  during  the  long  intervals  between 
his  outward  and  home  voyages.  It  was  during  these 
leisurely  months  that  he  made  his  friendships  with 
Judge  Simpson  and  Governor  Young,  with  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton, of  the  Grange,  and  with  Mr.  Stewart  and  his 
family,  of  Orange  Valley,  and  with  those  gentlemen 
planters  in  the  neighboring  island  of  Granada  of  whom 
he  spoke  to  Mr.  Craik. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year  (1770),  having  brought 
the  John  back  to  Scotland,  he  was  stopping  for  a  time 
at  the  port  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  applied  for  admission 
to  the  lodge  of  Freemasons  of  that  town.  The  letter 
in  which  he  made  his  application  for  admission  is  pre- 
served in  fac-simile  at  Douglas  Castle,  at  Saint  Mary's 
Isle.  It  is  an  earnest  attempt  at  the  formal  phrase- 
ology which  he  deemed  the  occasion  demanded.  He 
spells  "regard,"  "regaird,"  with  a  hint  of  the  Scotch 
brogue  which  characterized  his  speech  at  this  time, 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  17 

and  there  are  other  instances  of  misspelling  which  do 
not  occur  in  the  elegant  letters  of  his  later  years. 

He  learned  soon  after  his  arrival  that  the  rumor  of 
Currie  Beck's  intention  of  dissolving  partnership  was 
correct,  and  again  found  himself  without  employment. 
This  turn  in  his  affairs  was  no  more  than  he  had  an- 
ticipated, but  a  very  painful  announcement  awaited 
him  for  which  he  was  entirely  unprepared.  He  learned 
that  Mungo  Maxwell  had  died  on  board  the  Barcelona 
ship  a  short  time  after  he  left  Tobago  and  that  the 
responsibility  of  the  sailor's  death  was  laid  at  his  door. 
Relations  of  Maxwell  residing  in  a  neighboring  county 
persistently  spread  the  rumor  that  John  Paul  was  re- 
sponsible for  his  death,  and  continually  threatened 
to  cause  his  arrest.  Added  to  this  revengeful  threat 
was  the  jealousy  of  his  neighbors  and  shipmates,  who 
resented  his  rapid  advancement  in  his  career.  The 
rumor  spread  persistently,  his  family  was  humiliated, 
and  to  his  intense  grief  he  found  that  his  patron,  Mr. 
Craik,  also  gave  credence  to  the  malicious  report. 

He  asked  and  received  an  honorable  discharge  from 
the  owners  of  the  John,  which  proved  his  good  stand- 
ing with  his  former  employers.  This  document  is  dat- 
ed April  1,  1771.  Subsequent  to  this  he  occupied 
himself  during  the  period  of  about  six  months  in  local 
trading  with  the  Isle  of  Man.  His  traducers  have 
stated  that  this  was  a  smuggling  trade,  but  his  own 
emphatic  denial  of  this  accusation  is  supported  by 
the  records  preserved  in  the  customs  books  of  the 
town  of  Douglas.  The  very  first  entry  of  goods  shipped 
from  England  to  the  Isle  of  Man  after  it  became 
the  property  of  the  crown  stands  in  John  Paul's  name. 


18  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

During  the  whole  of  this  period  he  dwelt  under  a 
cloud  of  evil  report,  and  awaited  openly  a  direct 
attack  from  his  accusers,  ready  to  face  the  verdict  of 
a  British  jury  and  eager  to  clear  his  name  from  sus- 
picion. Believing  at  last  that  no  one  of  his  accusers 
would  dare  openly  to  confront  him,  he  nevertheless 
took  ship  again  for  the  West  Indies  for  the  purpose  of 
gathering  proofs  to  refute  definitely  these  damaging 
accusations. 

When  he  arrived  in  the  island  of  Tobago,  he  found  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  procuring  the  necessary  evidence. 
His  friends,  Judge  Simpson  and  William  Young,  the 
governor,  were  both  entirely  willing  to  assist  him  in 
his  emergency.  Judge  Simpson  furnished  him  with  the 
needful  affidavit.1 

1  Before  the  Honorable  Lieutenant  Governor,  William  Young,  Esquire 
of  the  Island: — 

Aforesaid  personally  appeared,  James  Simpson  Esquire,  who,  being 
duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists  of  Almighty  God; 

Deposeth  and  Saith: 

That:  Sometime  about  the  beginning  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord, 
1770,  a  person  in  the  habit  of  a  sailor,  came  to  this  deponent,  who  was 
at  that  time  Judge  Surrogate  of  the  Court  of  Vice  Admiralty  for  the 
Island  aforesaith,  with  a  complaint  against  John  Paul,  commander  of  a 
Brigantine  then  lying  in  Rockley  Bay  of  said  Island,  for  having  beat  the 
then  complainant  who  belonged  to  the  said  John  Paul's  vessel;  at  the 
same  time  showing  deponent  his  shoulders  which  had  there  the  marks 
of  several  stripes,  but  none  that  were  either  mortal  or  dangerous,  to  the 
best  of  this  deponent's  opinion  and  belief. 

And  this  deponent  further  saith — That  he  did  summon  the  said  John 
Paul  before  him,  who  in  his  vindication  alleged  that  the  said  complainant 
had  on  all  occasions  proved  very  ill  qualified  for,  as  well  as  very  negli- 
gent in  his  duties,  and  also  that  he  was  very  lazy  and  inactive  in  the 
execution  of  his,  the  said  John  Paul's  lawful  command.  At  the  same 
time  declaring  his  sorrow  for  having  corrected  the  complainant;  and 
this  deponent  further  saith:  That  having  dismissed  the  complaint  as 
frivolous,  the  complainant  as  this  deponent  believes,  returned  to  his 
duty  and  this  deponent  further  saith: — That  he  has  since  understood 
that  the  said  complainant  died  afterwards  on  board  of  a  different  vessel 
on  her  passage  to  some  of  the  leaward  Islands,  and  that  the  said  John 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  19 

Armed  with  this  exculpatory  document,  John  Paul 
again  returned  to  England,  and  on  the  day  after  his 
arrival  wrote  his  family  of  the  result  of  his  voyage : 

London,  24th  September  1772. 
My  dear  Mother  and  Sisters: — 

I  only  arrived  here  last  night  from  the  Grenadas; 
I  have  had  but  poor  health  during  the  voyage,  and  my 
success  in  it  not  having  equalled  my  first  sanguine  ex- 
pectations, has  added  very  much  to  the  asperity  of  my 
misfortunes,  and  I  am  well  assured  was  the  cause  of 
my  loss  of  health.  I  am  now  however  better,  and  I 
trust  Providence  will  soon  put  me  in  the  way  to  get 
bread,  and  (which  is  far  my  greatest  happiness)  be  ser- 
viceable to  my  poor  but  much  valued  friends.  I  am 
able  to  give  you  no  account  of  my  future  proceedings, 
as  they  depend  upon  circumstances  which  are  not  fully 
determined. 

I  have  enclosed  you  a  copy  of  an  affidavit  made 
before  Governor  Young  by  the  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Vice  Admiralty  at  Tobago,  by  which  you  will  see  with 
how  little  reason  my  life  has  been  thirsted  after,  and 
which  is  much  dearer  to  me,  my  honor,  by  maliciously 
loading  my  fair  character  with  obloquy  and  vile  asper- 
sions. I  believe  there  are  few  who  are  hard  hearted 
enough  to  think  I  have  not  long  since  given  the  world 
every  satisfaction  in  my  power,  being  conscious  of  my 

Paul  as  this  deponent  is  informed,  has  been  accused  in  Great  Britain  as 
the  immediate  author  of  the  said  complainant's  death,  by  means  of  the 
said  stripes  hereinbefore  mentioned. 

This  accusation,  this  deponent,  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  declares  and  believes  to  be  in  his  judgment  without  any 
just  foundation  as  far  as  relates  to  the  stripes  before  mentioned;  which 
this  deponent  very  particularly  examined,  and 
Further  this  deponent  saith  not. 

James  Simpson. 
Sworn  before  me, 

This  30th  day  of  June,  1772 
William  Young. 


20  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

innocence  before  Heaven,  who  will  one  day  judge  even 
my  Judges.  I  staked  my  honor,  life  and  fortune  for 
six  long  months  on  the  verdict  of  a  British  Jury,  not- 
withstanding I  was  sensible  of  the  general  prejudices 
which  ran  against  me;  but  after  all,  none  of  my  ac- 
cusers had  the  courage  to  confront  me.  Yet  I  am 
willing  to  convince  the  world,  if  reason  and  facts  will 
do  it,  that  they  have  no  foundation  for  their  harsh 
treatment.  I  mean  to  send  Mr.  Craik  a  copy  properly 
proved,  as  his  nice  feelings  will  not  perhaps  be  other- 
wise satisfied.  In  the  meantime,  if  you  please,  you 
may  show  him  the  enclosed.  His  ungracious  conduct 
to  me  before  I  left  Scotland  I  have  not  yet  been  able 
to  get  the  better  of;  every  person  of  feeling  must  think 
meanly  of  adding  to  the  load  of  the  afflicted.  It  is 
true  I  bore  it  with  seem  unconcern,  but  Heaven  can 
witness  for  me  that  I  suffered  the  more  on  that  very 
account.    But  enough  of  this! 


The  dominant  qualities  of  Paul  Jones's  character,  his 
regard  for  reputation,  keen  sensitiveness  of  feeling,  and 
strong  imagination,  reacting,  as  they  never  failed  to  do, 
upon  a  singularly  responsive  physical  organization, 
were  already  evident  in  this  early  letter.  His  care  for 
his  "poor  but  valued  friends,"  to  whose  support  he  was 
already  in  the  habit  of  contributing,  is  the  best  proof 
of  his  loyal  and  affectionate  disposition.  No  further 
evidence  is  necessary  to  prove  his  innocence  of  charges 
which  were  many  times  revived  against  him,  or  of  the 
intensity  of  his  suffering  from  the  obloquy  which  was 
cast  most  unjustly  upon  his  name.  He  never  again 
wrote  to  Mr.  Craik,  who,  his  relatives  state,  was  after- 
ward entirely  convinced  of  his  innocence.  He  never 
again  visited  his  birthplace  in  Scotland;  he  never  saw 


CHILDHOOD   AND  YOUTH  21 

his  family  again.  He  busied  himself  with  his  affairs  in 
London,  and,  not  content  with  the  evidence  of  Judge 
Simpson,  he  obtained  from  James  Eastment,  the  cap- 
tain of  the  ship  on  which  Mungo  Maxwell  died,  the 
following  affidavit,  which  testified  to  the  manner  and 
cause  of  the  sailor's  death: 

James  Eastment  mariner  and  late  master  of  the 
Barcelona  Packet,  maketh  oath  and  saith  that  Mungo 
Maxwell  carpenter  formerly  on  board  the  John,  Cap- 
tain Paul,  Master,  came  in  good  health  on  board  his, 
this  deponent's  said  vessel,  then  lying  in  Great  Rock- 
ley  Bay,  in  the  island  of  Tobago,  about  the  middle  of 
the  month  of  June  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy,  in  the  capacity  of  a  carpenter 
aforesaid. 

That  he  acted  as  such  in  every  respect  in  perfect 
health  for  some  time  after  he  came  on  board  this  de- 
ponents said  vessel,  the  Barcelona  Packet  after  which 
he  was  taken  ill  of  a  fever  and  lowness  of  spirits,  which 
continued  for  four  or  five  days,  when  he  died  on  board 
the  said  vessel  during  her  passage  from  Tobago  to 
Antigua. 

And  this  deponent  further  saith  that  he  never  heard 
the  said  Mungo  Maxwell  complain  of  having  received 
any  ill  usage  from  the  said  Captain  John  Paul;  but 
that  he,  this  deponent  verily  believes  that  said  Mungo 
Maxwell's  death  was  occasioned  by  a  fever  and  low- 
ness of  spirits  as  aforesaid,  and  not  by  or  through  any 
other  cause  or  causes  whatsoever. 

This  document  John  Paul  deposited  with  the  then 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  on  the  30th  of  January,  1773. 


CHAPTER  II 
PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE 

Young  Paul  had  evidently  succeeded  in  establishing 
his  credit  with  reliable  merchants  during  the  period 
of  his  trading  with  the  Isle  of  Man,  for  he  now  was 
able  to  secure  the  necessary  advance  to  enable  him 
to  purchase  the  "large  London  ship,"  of  which  he  had 
written  to  Mr.  Craik,  and  to  start  out  in  business  for 
himself.  He  purchased  the  Betsey,  a  London  merchant- 
man, and,  having  loaded  her  at  Cork,  set  sail  for  the 
West  Indies  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1773.  In 
April  he  was  again  in  the  bay  of  Tobago.  As  he  had 
succeeded  in  procuring  his  ship  by  his  own  unaided 
exertions,  he  now  easily  induced  Archibald  Stuart, 
Esq.,  a  planter  in  the  island,  to  enter  into  partner- 
ship with  him.  He  invested  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  his  original  cargo  in  the  purchase  of  West  Indian  mer- 
chandise, and  paid  off  his  chief  officers,  but  he  hoped 
to  be  able  to  defer  payment  of  his  seamen  until  he 
had  realized  on  his  return  cargo  in  England.  By  such 
methods  he  ran  the  risk  of  losing  his  crew,  and,  as  the 
event  proved,  he  paid  dearly  for  his  temerity.  The 
sailors  murmured  and  refused  to  be  placated  by  the 
promises  of  gifts  of  clothing  with  which,  as  he  himself 
admits,  he  attempted  to  conciliate  them.  Under  these 
circumstances  he  made  all  haste  to  finish  his  loading 
and  put  to  sea,  but  on  coming  aboard  one  morning  he 
found  himself  confronted  by  a  well-organized  plot  on 

22 


PERIOD  OP  ADVENTURE  23 

the  part  of  his  drunken  and  dissatisfied  crew  to  desert 
the  ship  in  a  body. 

Just  freed  from  the  serious  difficulties  caused  by  his 
chastisement  of  Mungo  Maxwell,  it  may  well  be  be- 
lieved that  he  had  no  desire  to  become  involved  in 
further  trouble.  But  a  fatality  of  the  worst  and  most 
unexpected  kind  awaited  him.  In  defending  himself 
from  a  determined  and  murderous  attack  made  by  the 
ringleader  of  the  mutiny,  he  was  unfortunate  enough 
to  kill  the  man.  This  second  and  separate  incident  of 
trouble  with  his  sailors,  with  its  immediately  fatal  con- 
sequences, has  never  been  known  to  any  of  his  biog- 
raphers. In  the  year  1906  an  account  of  this  occur- 
rence was  discovered  in  a  letter  to  Benjamin  Franklin, 
in  the  well-known  handwriting  of  Paul  Jones  himself. 
This  document  was  one  of  a  collection  of  thirteen 
thousand  letters  written  to  Franklin,  and  bequeathed 
about  the  year  1850  to  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Philadelphia  by  the  son  of  George  Fox,  who  had  re- 
ceived it  from  Franklin's  grandson.  For  more  than 
half  a  century  this  remarkable  letter  lay  in  the  vaults 
of  the  society  unnoticed.  Under  a  recently  appointed 
librarian,  the  long-delayed  task  of  cataloguing  the 
enormous  mass  of  documents  was  initiated  and  the 
truth  about  this  important  event  in  Paul  Jones's  life 
brought  to  light.  This  letter  illumines  the  period  of 
his  life  which  has  always  been  obscure  to  his  biog- 
raphers, gives  the  reason  for  his  temporary  abandon- 
ment of  a  sea  career,  and  explains  in  large  measure  his 
change  of  name.  The  account  written  to  Franklin  re- 
lates the  incident  in  detail : 


24  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

L'Orient,  March  6th,  1779. 
Honored  and  Dear  Sir: — 

The  mystery  which  you  so  delicately  mention  in  your 
much  esteemed  favor  of  the  24th  ult. — it  has  been  my 
intention  for  more  than  Twelve  months  past  to  com- 
municate to  you;  which  however  I  have  put  off  from 
time  to  time  on  reflecting  that  the  Account  must  give 
you  more  pain  than  pleasure: — yet  had  I  not,  on  my 
sudden  departure  from  hence  for  Paris,  inadvertently 
neglected  to  take  with  me  the  Original  Paper  whereof 
the  inclosed  is  a  Copy.  I  certainly  should  then  have 
put  it  in  your  hands. — The  subject  at  the  beginning  of 
the  War  was  communicated  to  sundry  Members  of 
Congress  among  whom  I  may  mention  Mr.  Hewes  of 
No.  Carolina  and  Mr.  Morris  of  Philadelphia;  and  to 
various  other  persons  in  America  before  and  Since. — It 
was  the  advice  of  my  friend  Gov.  Young  among  many 
others,  when  that  great  Misfortune  of  my  Life  hap- 
pened, that  I  should  retire  Incog,  to  the  continent  of 
America,  and  remain  there  until  an  Admiralty  Com- 
mission should  arrive  in  the  Island,  and  then  return. 
— I  had  waited  that  event  eighteen  months  before 
Swords  were  drawn  and  the  Ports  of  the  Continent 
were  Shut. 

It  had  been  my  intention  from  the  time  of  my  mis- 
fortune to  quit  the  sea  service  altogether,  and,  after 
standing  Trial,  as  I  had  the  means,  to  purchase  some 
small  tracts  of  Land  on  the  Continent,  which  had  been 
my  favorite  Country  from  the  age  of  thirteen,  when  I 
first  saw  it. — I  had  settled  my  future  place  of  retire- 
ment in  "calm  contemplation  and  Poetic  ease." 

I  could  have  no  views  of  protection  from  a  new  Gov- 
ernment, and  therefore  as  I  adhered  to  my  first  resolu- 
tion of  returning  to  the  West  Indies,  to  Stand  Trial, 
and  to  Settle  my  affairs  there  as  soon  as  peace  should 
be  restored  to  the  Continent,  it  was  the  advice  of  my 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  25 

friends  that  I  should  till  that  wished  event  might  be 
brought  about,  remain  Incog. — 

It  may  be  said  that  I  have  been  unfortunate — but 
it  cannot  be  made  appear  that  I  have  ever,  even  in  the 
weakest  Moment  of  my  Life  been  capable  of  a  Base  or 
a  mean  Action: 
I  am  with  grateful  and  real  affection  and  respect, 
Honored  and  Dear  Sir 
Your  very  obliged 
Very  obedient 

Very  humble  servant 
John  Paul  Jones. 

The  enclosure  referred  to  above  is  as  follows: 

P.  S.  The  Master  of  a  West  India  ship  from  London 
had  occasion  to  ship  sundry  seamen  at  the  Island 
where  he  landed — one  of  whom  in  particular  behaved 
himself  very  ill — He  was  a — principal  in  Embezzling 
the  Master's  Liquor — He  got  frequently  drunk — He 
neglected  and  even  refused  his  duty  with  much  inso- 
lence.— He  stirred  up  the  rest  of  the  crew  to  act  in  the 
Same  manner  and  was  their  avowed  Ringleader. 

As  the  Master's  engagements  were  of  such  a  nature 
that  his  all  depended  upon  dispatch,  he  gave  his  Crew 
very  reasonable  encouragement, — They  had  plenty  of 
good  Provision  and  were  in  other  respects  well  used. — 
Notwithstanding  of  which  one  forenoon  when  the  Mas- 
ter came  on  Board  he  found  that  the  Crew  had  formed 
or  were  then  forming  a  plot  to  desert  the  ship. — As  the 
Master  was  walking  aft  the  Ringleader  rushed  up  from 
the  steerage  and  stopped  him  with  the  grossest  abuse 
that  vulgarism  could  dictate — because,  as  he  pretended, 
the  Master  had  sailed  his  ship  fourteen  Months  with- 
out paying  wages. — The  fellow  having  sometime  be- 


26  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

fore  complained  that  he  wanted  cloaths,  the  Master 
now  gave  him  Frocks  and  Trousers  telling  him  to  go 
about  his  duty  and  to  inform  himself  better — for  that 
what  he  had  said  was  not  so — .But  mildness  had  no 
good  effect,  for  while  the  Master  was  distributing 
Cloathing  to  some  of  the  rest  who  were  also  in  want, 
the  first  conveyed  his  things  into  the  Boat  and  another 
of  the  Crew  was  following  his  example,  till  observing 
that  the  Master  had  an  eye  upon  their  proceedings, 
they  Sneaked  back  into  the  ship — They  remained  quiet 
for  a  short  space. — But  the  Ringleader  soon  broke  out 
again  with  Oaths  and  insisted  on  having  the  boat  and 
quitting  the  Ship — This  the  Master  refused,  but  offered 
to  give  up  his  agreement  if  a  Man  could  be  found  to 
serve  in  his  room.  The  disturber  Swore  with  horrid 
imprications  that  he  would  take  away  the  Boat  by 
force! — and  for  that  purpose  actually  rushed  over  the 
Gangway,  bidding  the  Master  the  most  contemptuous 
defiance! — Upon  the  Master's  stepping  to  prevent  this 
the  Man  (having  threw  his  strength)  leapt  into  the 
Ship  and  forced  him  into  the  Cabin,  using  at  the  time 
language  and  attitudes  too  indecent  to  be  mentioned, 
and  charging  him  not  to  shew  his  Nose  upon  Deck  again 
till  the  Boat  was  gone  at  his  utmost  peril. — The  Master 
searched  the  Cabin  for  a  stick,  but  not  finding  one,  and 
his  Sword,  by  chance  being  on  the  Table,  he  took  it  up 
in  hopes  that  the  sight  of  it  would  intimidate  the  Man 
into  submission. — The  Man  had  by  this  time  descended 
the  Gangway  within  a  step  of  the  boat,  so  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  prevent  his  Elopement  had 
he  persisted — But  he  now  re-entered  the  Ship  breath- 
ing Vengeance,  and,  totally  regardless  of  the  Sword, 
tho  within  its  reach,  turned  his  back  towards  the  Mas- 
ter, ran  on  the  Main  Deck,  Armed  himself  with  a 
Bludgeon  with  which  he  returned  to  the  quarter  Deck 
and  attacked  the  Master.    The  Master  was  thunder 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  27 

Struck  with  surprise,  for  he  had  considered  the  Man's 
ravings  as  the  natural  effect  of  disappointed  Rage  which 
would  soon  subside  of  itself. — But  now  his  sole  expe- 
dient was  to  prevent  bad  consequences  by  returning 
again  to  the  Cabin; — and  this  he  endeavored  to  do  as 
fast  as  possible  by  retiring  backwards  in  a  posture  of 
defence. — But  alas!  what  is  human  foresight. — The 
after  Hatchway  was  uncovered  and  lay  in  a  direct  line 
between  the  Master's  back  and  the  cabin  door,  but  the 
momentary  duration  of  the  attack  did  not  admit  of 
his  recollecting  that  circumstance  before  his  heel  came 
in  contact  with  the  Hatchway,  which  obliged  him  to 
make  a — Sudden  Stop. — Unhappily  at  that  instant 
the  assailant's  arm  being  high  raised,  he  threw  his  Body 
forward  to  reach  the  Master's  head  with  the  descend- 
ing Blow — The  fatal  and  unavoidable  consequence  of 
which  was  his  rushing  upon  the  Sword's  Point. 

After  this  melancholy  accident  the  Master  went 
Publickly  to  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  offered  to  Sur- 
render as  his  Prisoner. — The  Justice  who  called  him- 
self the  Masters  friend,  persuaded  him  to  withdraw  and 
Said  it  was  unnecessary  to  Surrender  before  the  day  of 
Trial.— And  the  rest  of  the  Masters  friends  who  were 
present  forced  him  to  mount  his  Horse. — Two  weeks 
before  this  the  Chief  Mate  had  been  for  the  first  time 
in  his  Life  advanced  to  that  Station — and  yet  unworthy 
as  his  conduct  had  been  in  it  he  now  openly  arrogated 
his  unblushing  pretentions  to  the  Command,  and  to 
attain  it  associated  with  the  Crew.  The  Testimony 
of  such  a  combination  may  easily  be  imagined,  con- 
scious as  they  were  of  having  embezzled  the  Masters 
property  they  were  not  likely  to  dwell  on  any  circum- 
stance that  manifested  their  own  dastardly  and  un- 
dutiful  Conduct. — And  as  the  second  Mate  a  young 
Gentleman  of  worth  lay  Sick  as  well  as  all  the  inferior 
Officers  and  best  disposed  of  the  Crew,  in  all  human 


28  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

probability  the  Truth  could  not  escape  the  grossest 
perversions. — Besides  the  Nature  of  the  Case  Subjected 
it  to  the  cognizance  of  a  Court  Martial — And  there  was 
no  Admiralty  Commission  then  in  the  Government. — 
For  these  obvious  reasons  the  Masters  friends  con- 
strained him  for  a  time  to  leave  the  Country. 

N.  B.  The  foregoing  has  been  written  in  great  haste 
to  Save  the  Post.1 

The  kind  friend  and  indulgent  philosopher  to  whom 
this  letter  was  addressed  made  in  his  reply  no  reference 
to  the  story  it  contained,  except  to  say  that  it  was  sim- 
ply a  case  of  self-defence.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  confession,  so  painful  to  Paul  Jones,  ever  altered 
in  any  way  the  friendship  which  existed  between  them. 
Legally,  Paul  Jones  was  absolutely  justified  in  killing 
the  ringleader  of  the  mutiny,  not  only  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  laws  and  customs  then  universally  prevalent 
upon  the  sea,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  the  man's 
assault  was  evidently  with  intent  to  kill.  The  points 
of  the  affair  which  deserve  consideration  are  Jones's 
own  regret  at  the  circumstance,  his  enforced  flight, 
and  the  serious  results  which  it  entailed  upon  his  char- 
acter and  career.  No  blame  can  properly  be  attached 
to  the  act,  except  in  the  fact  (clearly  indicated  in  his 
own  narrative)  that  he  unwisely  believed  that  his  crew 
would  remain  contented  without  their  wages  until  such 
time  as  suited  his  convenience.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  this  account  without  a  profound  sympathy  for 
the  horror  and  dismay  which  must  have  overwhelmed 

1  The  letter  is  dated  March  6,  1779,  and,  belonging  to  a  much  later 
period,  is  not  fully  quoted  at  this  point.  It  is  given  in  its  entirety  in 
Appendix  B. 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  29 

his  mind  at  this  second  catastrophe.  The  consterna- 
tion of  the  men  who  had  already  proved  themselves  his 
friends,  when  he  appeared  before  them  staggering  un- 
der the  shock  of  this  fatal  and  unpremeditated  disas- 
ter, can  well  be  imagined.  Judge  Simpson  had  already 
set  his  hand  to  the  affidavit  which  cleared  him  of  the 
responsibility  of  Mungo  Maxwell's  death.  Governor 
Young  had  testified  to  the  truth  of  the  document,  and 
this  evidence  had  been  put  into  Jones's  hands  on  the 
occasion  of  his  last  visit  to  the  island  in  the  preceding 
year. 

Although  this  evidence  was  strong  enough  to  pre- 
vent an  open  attack,  his  enemies  still  whispered  of  his 
guilt,  and  hostile  rumors  were  alive  which,  in  the  light 
of  this  second  occurrence,  would  have  strongly  mili- 
tated against  him  had  he  determined  to  face  a  trial 
at  that  time.  The  man's  death  was  immediate,  and 
Jones  had  been  armed  with  a  sword.  The  chief  mate 
was  jealous,  ambitious  of  assuming  command,  and  was 
known  to  be  hostile.  The  evidence  of  the  second  mate 
and  the  other  inferior  officers  was  unobtainable,  and 
the  sailors,  for  the  reasons  above  mentioned,  were  all 
against  him.  Under  these  seriously  unfavorable  con- 
ditions he  nevertheless  offered  to  surrender  himself 
immediately,  but  Judge  Simpson,  still  his  friend,  ad- 
vised him  that  this  was  unnecessary  until  the  day  of 
trial.  No  court  of  admiralty  was  then  in  session  on 
the  island,  and  no  date  for  the  appointment  of  such 
a  tribunal  had  been  set.  Jones's  surrender  or  arrest 
might  have  meant  indefinite  imprisonment  or  a  more 
serious  sentence  from  an  inferior  court.    It  is  not  sur- 


30  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

prising  that  a  conference  of  his  friends,  held  in  secret, 
as  may  be  inferred,  in  the  face  of  such  serious  danger, 
should  have  resulted  in  the  advice  that  Jones  should 
mount  his  horse  and,  making  his  way  to  some  other 
port,  depart  from  the  island. 

It  is  difficult  for  those  who  have  studied  the  charac- 
ter of  Paul  Jones  to  imagine  this  strict  disciplinarian, 
this  fighter  by  nature,  "retiring  backwards  in  a  posture 
of  defence"  or  seeking  refuge  from  his  mad  and  muti- 
nous assailant  in  his  cabin.  But  with  the  memory  of 
Maxwell  in  his  mind,  it  is  entirely  credible  that  he 
did  attempt  to  avoid  serious  trouble  by  any  means  in 
his  power. 

Paul  Jones  never  returned  to  Tobago  to  stand  his 
trial,  and  the  reasons  for  this  are  set  forth  in  the  letter. 
What  does  not  appear  in  this  account  is  the  fact  that 
rumors  confounded  the  circumstances  of  this  occur- 
rence with  the  better-known  incident  of  Mungo  Max- 
well, and  Jones's  acquittal  for  the  one  offence  was 
therefore  held  to  apply  to  the  other. 

A  very  rare  old  book,  entitled  "The  Biographies  of 
the  Principal  Military  and  Naval  Heroes  of  America/ ' 
written  by  one  Thomas  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  pub- 
lished in  that  city  in  the  year  1817,  before  the  appear- 
ance of  any  of  the  "Lives"  of  Paul  Jones,  contains  an 
account  of  both  occurrences  merged  into  one.  It  is 
very  valuable  in  the  confirmatory  evidence  it  supplies 
of  the  defensive  nature  of  his  attack  on  the  sailor 
and  in  the  indication  it  gives  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  two  incidents  were  confused  in  the  rumors  of  the 
time: 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  31 


CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES 


This  football  of  fortune  was  a  native  of  Scotland. 
His  father  had  been  originally  a  gardener  to  the  Earl 
of  Selkirk. 

Circumstances  at  present  unknown  led  him  to  em- 
brace a  seafaring  life  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  After  he 
had  served  a  regular  apprenticeship  he  commanded  a 
merchant  vessel  which  was  for  many  years  engaged  in 
the  West  India  trade. 

During  a  voyage  to  Tobago  the  crew  of  his  vessel 
mutinied.  He,  in  the  incipiency  of  the  insurrection 
resorted  to  conciliatory  measures  with  a  view  to  re- 
storing order;  but  his  moderation  being  supposed  to 
be  the  effect  of  fear,  the  mutineers  grew  bolder  and 
renewed  their  threats.  On  this,  Captain  Paul  armed 
himself  with  a  small  sword,  posted  himself  on  the  quar- 
terdeck and  informed  the  mutineers  that  the  most  se- 
rious consequences  would  result  if  they  should  pass  the 
after  hatchway,  and  that  an  attempt  to  get  on  the 
quarterdeck  would  induce  him  and  his  officers  to  risk 
their  own  lives  in  endeavoring  to  effect  their  destruction. 
They  were  somewhat  appalled  by  his  decision;  but 
some  more  desperate  than  the  rest,  determined  to  seize 
him,  and  armed  with  handspikes,  crowbars,  and  axes, 
moved  along  the  waist  to  the  quarterdeck.  The  leader, 
on  approaching  Captain  Paul,  raised  a  handspike  to 
strike  him,  and  made  the  blow,  but  it  was  evaded  and 
he  missed  his  object;  but  was  about  to  renew  it,  and 
when  he  lifted  a  second  time,  Captain  Paul  pierced  the 
ruffian;  he  fell  dead  on  the  deck.  The  rest  fled  to  the 
forecastle  and  some  below  deck;  those  who  remained 
above  were  seized  and  put  in  irons;  and  those  who  had 
resisted  the  mutiny,  being  encouraged  by  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  Captain,  secured  the  others  below. 


32  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  voyage  was  prosecuted  and  they  arrived  at  To- 
bago, where  Captain  Paul  surrendered  himself  to  the 
proper  authority,  with  a  demand  that  he  should  be 
tried  for  the  death  of  the  mutineer.  The  transaction 
excited  considerable  interest;  but  at  length  he  obtained 
a  formal  trial  wherein  he  was  finally  acquitted.  What 
became  of  the  mutineers  we  do  not  now  recollect;  but 
it  is  upwards  of  30  years  since  we  read  the  narrative. 

Captain  Paul  had  dispatched  his  ship  under  another 
officer  to  Europe  while  he  awaited  the  trial,  and  after 
his  acquittal  returned  to  Europe.  He  landed  in  Eng- 
land where  the  story  had  preceded  him  with  great  exag- 
geration, and  he  was  menaced  with  imprisonment  and 
a  new  trial.  In  this  dilemma  he  addressed  his  friends  of 
the  Scots  House  in  Cork;  described  the  prosecution  he 
had  experienced  and  the  injustice  of  bringing  him  a 
second  time  to  trial,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England. 
In  his  friends  he  found  advice  and  protection,  and  to 
escape  injustice  he  determined  to  proceed  to  the  Amer- 
ican Continent  where  he  added  to  his  paternal  name 
the  nomme  de  guerre  Jones. 

It  is  in  no  way  remarkable  that  the  reports  current 
in  those  troublous  times,  when  ports  were  closed  and 
correspondence  uncertain  and  irregular,  should  have 
mingled  the  two  incidents.  They  both  occurred  at 
Tobago,  and  the  same  authorities,  Judge  Simpson  and 
Governor  Young,  were  concerned  in  both.  Jones,  quite 
naturally,  considered  it  needless  to  enlighten  the  gen- 
eral public  in  regard  to  the  matter,  but  there  are  various 
mysterious  references  to  it  in  intimate  letters  which 
none  of  his  biographers  have  hitherto  been  able  to  ex- 
plain. He  always  called  it  "the  misfortune  of  my  life," 
and  it  is  evident  that  he  never  could  forget  it,  but  was 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  33 

forced  to  call  to  his  aid  all  his  fortitude  and  philosophy 
to  enable  him  to  surmount  the  suffering  which  it  caused 
him.  At  a  later  period,  in  referring  to  the  distress 
which  he  suffered  from  his  supersedure  in  rank,  he 
says:  "Its  reality  affects  me  more  than  all  the  former 
misfortunes  of  my  life,  some  of  them  were  perhaps 
brought  about  by  my  own  misconduct — this  I  am  sure 
was  not."  It  is  plain  that  he  did  not  consider  himself 
wholly  innocent  of  the  contributing  cause  of  the  fatal- 
ity arising  from  the  fact  that  he  had  not  paid  his  crew 
in  full,  and  was  therefore  partly  responsible  for  their 
dissatisfaction. 

He  made  a  voluntary  confession  of  the  unfortunate 
occurrence  at  the  outset  of  his  friendship  with  Hewes 
and  Morris,  and  was  unwilling  to  continue  his  impor- 
tant relation  with  Franklin  without  making  a  similar 
confession  to  him. 

The  immediate  results  of  this  disaster  were  exceed- 
ingly serious.  He  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  busi- 
ness which  he  had  brought  with  such  difficulty  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue,  and  nearly  penniless  and  in  tragic  haste  to 
depart  from  the  island.  He  left  both  ship  and  cargo 
in  the  hands  of  his  partner  and  entered  upon  a  truly 
melancholy  period  of  homeless  and  nameless  wander- 
ing. This  period,  lasting  from  June,  1773,  to  the  winter 
of  1775,  has  been  one  of  almost  complete  obscurity  to 
all  of  his  previous  biographers.  He  fled  from  Tobago 
under  an  assumed  name,  and,  unable  openly  to  claim 
his  rightful  property,  he  emerged  as  John  Paul  Jones, 
a  regularly  appointed  officer  in  the  American  navy. 
Two  brief  references  exist  in  the  letters  of  Jones  himself 


34  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

to  throw  some  light  upon  this  part  of  his  life.  One  of 
these,  found  in  a  letter  already  printed  in  the  Edin- 
burgh and  Sands  biographies,  was  written  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  1777,  when  Jones  had  advanced  to  a  leading 
position  in  the  American  navy: 

Boston,  tth  May  mi. 
Dear  sir. 

After  an  unprofitable  suspense  of  twenty  months, 
(having  subsisted  on  fifty  pounds  only  during  that  time.) 
when  my  hopes  of  relief  were  entirely  cut  off,  and  there 
remained  no  possibility  of  my  receiving  wherewithal  to 
subsist  upon  from  my  effects  in  your  island,  or  in  Eng- 
land, I  at  last  had  recourse  to  strangers  for  that  aid  and 
comfort  which  was  denied  me  by  those  friends  whom  I 
had  entrusted  with  my  all.  The  good  offices  which  are 
rendered  to  persons  in  their  extreme  need,  ought  to 
make  a  deep  impression  on  grateful  minds;  in  my  case 
I  feel  the  truth  of  that  sentiment,  and  am  bound  by 
gratitude  as  well  as  honour  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  my 
late  benefactors.  I  have  lately  seen  Mr.  Sicaton,  (late 
manager  of  the  estates  of  Arch.  Stuart  Esq.)  who  in- 
formed me  that  Mr.  Ferguson  had  quitted  Orange  Val- 
ley, on  being  charged  with  the  unjust  application  of  the 
property  of  his  employers.  I  have  been  and  am  ex- 
tremely concerned  at  this  account :  I  wish  to  disbelieve 
it,  although  it  seems  too  much  of  a  piece  with  the  unfair 
advantage  which,  to  all  appearance  he  took  of  me,  when 
he  left  me  in  exile,  for  twenty  months,  a  prey  to  melan- 
choly and  want,  and  withheld  my  property,  without 
writing  a  word  of  excuse  for  his  conduct.  Thus  cir- 
cumstanced I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  sending  you  a 
letter  of  attorney  to  Captain  Cleaveland,  who  under 
takes  to  deliver  it  himself,  as  he  goes  for  Tobago  via 
Martinico.    You  have  enclosed  a  copy  of  a  list  of  debts 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  35 

acknowledged,  which  I  received  from  Mr.  Ferguson, 
when  I  saw  you  last  at  Orange  Valley.  You  have  also 
a  list  of  debts  contracted  with  me  together  with  Fergu- 
son's receipt.  And  there  remained  a  considerable  prop- 
erty unsold,  besides  some  best  Madeira  wine  which  he 
had  shipped  for  London.  By  the  state  of  accounts 
which  I  sent  to  England,  on  my  arrival  in  this  continent 
there  was  a  balance  due  to  me  from  the  ship  Betsey  of 
£909. 15s  3d.  sterling,  and  in  my  account  with  Robert 
Young,  Esq.  29  January  1773  there  appeared  a  balance 
in  my  favor  of  281  Is  8d.  Sterling.  These  sums  exceed 
my  drafts  and  just  debts  together,  so  that  if  I  am  fairly 
dealt  with,  I  ought  to  receive  a  considerable  remittance 
from  that  quarter.  You  will  please  to  observe,  that 
there  were  nine  pieces  of  coarse  camblets  shipped  at 
Cork,  over  and  above  the  quantity  expressed  in  the  bill 
of  lading.  It  seems  the  shippers  finding  their  mistake 
applied  for  the  goods;  and  as  I  have  been  informed  from 
Granada  Mr.  Ferguson  laid  hold  of  this  opportunity  to 
propagate  a  report  that  all  the  goods  which  I  put  into 
his  hands  were  the  property  of  that  house  in  Cork.  If 
this  base  suggestion  hath  gained  belief,  it  accounts  for 
all  the  neglect  which  I  have  experienced.  But  however 
my  connexions  are  changed,  my  principles  as  an  honest 
man  of  candour  and  integrity  are  the  same;  therefore 
should  there  not  be  a  sufficiency  of  my  property  in  Eng- 
land to  answer  my  just  debts,  I  declare  that  it  is  my 
first  wish  to  make  up  such  deficiency  from  my  property 
in  Tobago ;  and  were  even  that  to  fall  short,  I  am  ready 
and  willing  to  make  full  and  ample  remittances  from 
hence  upon  hearing  from  you  the  true  state  of  my  af- 
fairs. As  I  hope  my  dear  mother  is  still  alive,  I  must 
inform  you  that  I  wish  my  property  in  Tobago  or  in 
England  after  paying  my  just  debts  to  be  applied  for 
her  support.  Your  own  feelings,  my  dear  sir,  make  it 
unnecessary  for  me  to  use  argument  to  prevail  with  you 


36  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

on  this  tender  point.  Any  remittances  which  you  may 
be  enabled  to  make  through  the  hands  of  my  good  friend 
Captain  John  Paliner  of  Cork,  will  be  faithfully  put  into 
her  hands,  she  hath  several  orphan  grandchildren  to 
provide  for.  I  have  made  no  apology  for  giving  you 
this  trouble;  my  situation  will  I  trust  obtain  your  free 
pardon.    I  am  always  with  perfect  esteem. 

Dear  sir. 
Your  very  obliged,  very  obedient, 

And  most  humble  servant. 

J.  Paul  Jones. 
Stuakt  Mawey  Esq. 
Tobago. 

The  reasons  for  his  penniless  condition  during  nearly 
all  of  this  period  of  obscurity  are  here  sufficiently  ac- 
counted for  in  the  evident  dishonesty  of  the  agent  and 
resident  manager  of  his  partner,  Archibald  Stuart, 
in  whose  hands  Jones  had  intrusted  his  share  of  the 
ship  and  merchandise,  but  there  is  no  hint  as  to 
his  whereabouts  or  occupation  up  to  the  time  of  his 
forming  his  new  connections  with  the  American  Gov- 
ernment. The  other  reference  is  in  a  letter  printed  in 
Force's  "Archives";  although  brief,  it  is  exceedingly 
interesting  in  the  indication  it  furnishes  of  the  nature 
of  his  occupation  during  this  time.  It  is  dated  the 
18th  November,  1776,  when  Jones  was  on  board  the 
Providence,  off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  on  the  sec- 
ond of  his  independent  and  very  successful  cruises 
against  the  British  possessions  in  Canada.  He  writes 
to  Robert  Smith,  of  Edenton,  a  partner  of  Joseph 
Hewes  in  the  ship-building  business  and  the  United 
States  prize  agent  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina.    He 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  37 

announces  that  he  is  sending  a  prize  to  him  in  recog- 
nition of  his  gratitude  to  Joseph  Hewes,  and  says:  "I 
have  seen  and  do  esteem  yourself,  but  I  knew  your 
brother  James  well  when  /  was  myself  a  son  of  fortune.11 
The  unquestionable  confession  of  some  period  of  ad- 
venture expressed  in  this  phrase,  and  its  significant 
grouping  of  this  brother  and  himself  in  a  similar  occu- 
pation, of  which  he  dares  to  speak  on  account  of  their 
mutual  knowledge  of  its  character,  is  exceedingly  sug- 
gestive. What  were  they  doing,  these  two  intimate 
friends,  when  both  were  " sons  of  fortune "?  An  answer 
to  this  question  exists  and  is  contained  in  the  printed 
recollections  of  one  Thomas  Chase,  a  Massachusetts 
sailor  and  privateersman,  and  afterward  one  of  Jones's 
seamen  on  the  Alliance,  who  dictated  them  to  his  grand- 
son. These  recollections,  printed  privately,  were  in  the 
possession  of  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Chase  the  third, 
who  took  them  down  from  the  mouth  of  his  grand- 
father.   The  story  that  they  tell  runs  thus: 

In  September  1773,  two  years  before  the  breaking 
out  of  the  American  Revolutionary  War,  the  people  liv- 
ing near  Holmes's  Hole  Martha's  Vineyard,  were  aston- 
ished to  see  a  rather  singular  craft  put  into  their  port. 
Martha's  Vineyard  is  an  island,  forming  the  southeast- 
ern extreme  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  and  Holmes's 
Hole  is  its  principal  harbor.  The  vessel  was  a  sharp, 
rakish,  clipper  built  craft,  painted  entirely  black,  with 
no  name  whatever  marked  upon  her.  She  carried  three 
long  nine-pounders,  which  could  be  moved  to  any  part 
of  her  deck;  one  "long-torn"  on  a  pivot  and  apparently 
a  full  supply  of  small  arms  of  every  description.  She 
was  a  very  fast  sailor. 


38  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  crew  seemed  to  consist  of  about  forty  men, 
mostly  Spaniards  with  a  few  Portuguese  among  them. 
The  captain  announced  himself  as  Paul  Jones,1  and  said 
that  as  he  was  coasting  along  in  the  vicinity  of  Long 
Island,  New  York,  he  had  had  an  encounter  with  a 
British  craft  which  came  very  near  taking  him.  Two 
or  three  of  his  crew  and  one  officer,  had  been  wounded 
in  this  encounter,  and  the  officer  soon  after  died. 
Whether  the  dying  officer  had  requested  to  be  buried 
on  land,  or  whether  it  was  merely  Jones's  wish  to  show 
his  dead  officer  this  special  attention,  did  not  appear; 
but  he  inquired  whether  he  could  find  a  man  who  could 
make  a  coffin  for  the  dead  sailor,  and  said  he  wished  to 
give  him  a  decent  burial.  He  was  directed  to  a  stripling 
of  nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age,  who  had  the  repu- 
tation of  being  unusually  "handy  with  tools"  and  could 
even  accomplish  wonders  with  a  common  jack  knife  and 
a  bit  of  wood.  This  youth's  name  was  Thomas  Chase; 
he  was  born  on  the  island,  and  was  a  direct  descen- 
dant of  Thomas  Mayhew,  royal  patentee  and  first  Gov- 
ernor of  that  and  the  adjacent  islands.  Young  Chase 
set  about  making  the  coffin,  and  while  he  was  at  work 
on  the  gruesome  task,  had  numerous  long  conversations 
with  Jones  who  appeared  to  have  taken  quite  a  fancy 
to  the  youth,  and  was  very  sociable  and  communicative. 

At  Captain  Jones's  request,  the  people  of  the  Island 
turned  out  in  good  numbers  to  attend  the  stranger's 
funeral.  Among  the  persons  who  attended  that  strange 
funeral  was  a  girl  in  her  teens  named  Desire*  Luce.  She 
was  then  the  sweetheart,  and  afterwards  became  the 
wife  of  the  youth  who  made  the  stranger's  coffin.  She 
saw  at  the  funeral  and  at  several  other  times  during  his 
few  days  stay  on  the  Island,  the  "Captain  Jones"  who 
was  so  friendly  with  her  sweetheart.  Of  course  in  the 
unusual  circumstances,  the  Captain  was  thoroughly 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  39 

scrutinized,  and  every  person  present  had  a  good  chance 
to  form  a  deliberate  opinion  as  to  his  personal  appear- 
ance. He  stood  about  five  feet  six  inches  high;  he  was 
stoutly  built  but  not  corpulent,  and  had  a  very  broad 
chest  and  shoulders,  and  arms  unusually  and  noticeably 
long  for  a  man  of  his  height.  His  weight  was  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  five  pounds;  he  was  remarkably 
muscular,  and  seemed  able  to  use  almost  all  of  his  great 
strength  in  his  sword  arm.  His  complexion  had  been 
naturally  light,  but  he  was  much  weather-beaten  at  this 
time,  having  been  afloat,  as  he  said,  about  seventeen 
years,  or  ever  since  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old. 
He  had  the  kind  of  hair  which  country  people  call 
"sandy,"  but  which  had  been  probably  made  lighter  by 
constant  exposure  to  wind  and  sunshine;  his  eyes  were 
bluish-gray.  The  muscles  of  his  face  were  firm,  giv- 
ing great  severity  to  his  expression.  Among  his  pe- 
culiarities was  that  of  an  uncommonly  deep,  strong, 
resonant  and  powerful  voice,  of  that  peculiar  carrying 
quality  which  made  it  distinctly  audible,  even  in  the 
greatest  noise  and  confusion. 

Captain  Jones  remained  several  days  on  the  Island 
after  the  burial  of  his  shipmate,  and  amused  himself  by 
looking  over  the  neighboring  country  and  making  sev- 
eral gunning  expeditions,  in  which  he  included  young 
Chase,  who  proved  a  better  shot  than  himself. 

The  Captain  and  his  crew  made  some  purchases  dur- 
ing their  stay,  paying  duly  for  everything  and  con- 
ducting themselves  in  a  perfectly  civil  and  inoffensive 
manner,  although  Captain  Jones  told  young  Chase  in 
private,  that  they  were  "a  set  of  Spanish  and  Portugese 
desperadoes."  They  were  under  excellent  control  how- 
ever, and  no  one  had  any  reason  to  complain  of  their 
behaviour.  He  seemed  never  to  try  to  keep  a  man  who 
wanted  to  leave  him  at  any  port.  One  of  his  crew  at 
this  time,  a  Portugese  who  called  himself  "Joe  Fred- 


40  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

erick"  as  the  nearest  English  approach  to  his  name,  de- 
cided to  remain  on  the  Island,  and  did  so,  with  his 
captain's  full  consent.  This  man  married  there,  and 
after  a  long  life  of  adventure,  for  he  later  sailed  again 
with  Jones — died  there,  and  his  widow  lived  to  be  over 
ninety  years  old. 

When  Jones  was  ready  to  leave  the  Island,  he  en- 
gaged an  old  pilot  to  help  him  over  Nantucket  Shoals, 
young  Chase  accompanying.  After  two  days,  they 
bade  adieu  to  Jones  with  the  best  of  feeling  on  both 
sides,  and  when  they  last  saw  his  vessel  it  was  steering 
north-easterly  as  if  meaning  to  double  Cape  Cod.  As 
was  afterwards  learned,  Jones  soon  returned  to  the 
Spanish  West  Indies,  then  his  headquarters. 

Two  years  after  this  occurrence  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  American  Revolution  in  1775,  young  Chase 
shipped  on  board  one  of  the  first  privateers  fitted  out 
by  the  Colonies.  It  chanced  that  within  a  few  days, 
this  ship  in  a  blistering  fog  almost  ran  into  a  strong 
British  man-of-war,  was  captured,  and  all  her  crew 
taken  prisoners  and  carried  to  Plymouth,  England, 
where  in  company  with  many  other  American  prisoners 
— there  were  over  seven  hundred  of  them  in  all — they 
were  held  captive  for  more  than  two  years.  Then,  by 
an  exchange  of  prisoners,  they  were  liberated  and  taken 
to  L'Orient,  in  France,  whence  they  hoped  to  ship  for 
home.  Here  it  happened,  Paul  Jones  and  young  Chase 
met  again  and  instantly  recognized  each  other,  and 
Chase  shipped  with  Jones  who  was  then  in  command 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  wished  to  fill  his  ship 
with  the  liberated  prisoners.  Chase  was  in  the  fight 
between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the  Serapis,  as 
well  as  in  many  other  engagements  and  knew  Jones 
perhaps,  as  well  as  did  any  other  man  who  ever  sailed 
with  him,  as  Jones  appeared  to  have  taken  a  special  lik- 
ing to  him,  telling  him  many  personal  details  which  he 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  41 

seemed  to  tell  few  others,  and  in  two  or  three  instances, 
taking  him  on  confidential  expeditions,  the  details  of 
which  he  did  not  trust  to  the  mass  of  his  crew. 

Although  of  a  generally  stern  and  surly  aspect,  Jones 
had  his  seasons  of  friendly  and  confidential  converse, 
when  he  spoke  freely  of  his  earlier  life  and  his  later 
adventures.  The  story  he  told  of  his  childhood  and 
youth  seemed  recited  in  good  faith,  and  was  adhered  to 
with  every  appearance  of  veracity  in  all  after  allusions. 
Jones  is  said  to  have  told  an  altogether  different  story 
to  the  American  Authorities  when  he  was  seeking  a 
naval  command;  but  whatever  he  said  afterwards,  or 
whatever  was  said  of  him,  it  was  evident  that  at  this 
time  he  really  believed  himself  to  be  an  illegitimate  son 
of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  whose  mansion  was  near  White- 
haven, on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  near  the  border 
of  England.  He  said  that  his  first  recollections  were 
of  the  servants'  quarters  in  the  Earl's  establishment; 
that  he  was  called  John  Paul,  and  told  that  his  father's 
name  was  Paul.  He  also  said  that  he  was  ignorant  as 
to  the  exact  date  of  his  birth. 

Regarding  his  voyages  in  the  slave-ships,  Thomas 
Chase's  narrative  again  supplies  some  interesting  in- 
formation: 

On  his  arrival  at  Corunna,  he  fell  in  with  an  associa- 
tion of  self-styled  "merchants"  and  maritime  rovers 
and  desperadoes,  who  obtained  their  living  and  wealth 
by  their  lawless  depredations  on  commerce,  and  whose 
predecessors  had  sailed  the  vague  "Spanish  main"  for 
scores  of  years,  and  who,  with  their  successors,  con- 
tinued to  ravage  the  shipping  of  all  commercial  nations 
until  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

Young  as  he  was,  he  soon  gained  ascendency  over 
many  of  his  associates  who  were  older  and  more  ex- 


42  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

perienced  in  voyaging  than  himself,  and  before  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  he  was  offered  the  command  of  a  ves- 
sel to  continue  the  same  business,  he  of  course  to  have 
a  much  larger  share  of  the  profits  than  before. 

These  reminiscences  of  Jones's  earlier  life,  with  many 
tales  of  stirring  and  dangerous  adventure,  were  recited 
by  him  to  young  Chase,  in  the  bluff  captain's  seasons 
of  relaxation  and  social  converse  during  their  cruises 
together.  Some  of  them  were  also  heard  by  three 
other  persons,  who  on  one  voyage  all  together,  and  on 
others  separately,  sailed  under  Jones.  These  three 
men  were  Thomas  Field,  Joe  Frederick,  and  John  Terry; 
this  last  was  a  boy  born  in  Annapolis,  Maryland,  who 
served  as  a  "  powder-monkey "  to  Chase's  gun,  in  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  fight. 

The  remainder  of  Chase's  narrative,  which  contains 
an  account  of  the  Ranger's  cruise  and  the  descent  upon 
Saint  Mary's  Isle,  possesses  no  value  as  historical  ma- 
terial, for  the  reason  that  he  was  during  that  time  still 
a  prisoner  in  England,  and  being  no  longer  an  eye- 
witness, relied  for  his  statements  on  tradition  and  hear- 
say reports  from  other  seamen.  The  brief  account  of 
the  engagement  with  the  Serajpis,  also  contained  in  the 
narrative,  furnishes  no  new  material  except  as  it  includes 
some  testimony  in  regard  to  Landais.  Chase  was  on 
board  the  Alliance  in  the  famous  battle,  but  sailed  for  a 
short  time  under  Jones  when  the  latter  took  command 
of  that  vessel.  None  of  the  somewhat  confused  recol- 
lections of  Chase's  middle  life,  dictated  when  he  was 
about  seventy  years  old,  have  the  value  possessed  by 
the  early  narrative,  the  details  of  which  were  impressed 
upon  the  old  seaman's  memory  with  indelible  vitality 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  43 

and  accuracy.  He  had  a  warm  admiration  and  feeling 
of  personal  friendship  for  Paul  Jones,  to  which  he  tes- 
tified up  to  the  close  of  his  long  life.  The  recollections 
as  orally  dictated  by  Chase  to  his  grandson  were  pri- 
vately printed  by  him  for  preservation,  in  the  year 
1859,  at  Chesterfield,  Virginia.1 

The  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  historical  accuracy 
of  this  narrative  are  highly  favorable  for  the  following 
reasons:  The  name  of  Thomas  Chase  is  not  only  found 
in  the  roll-book  of  the  Alliance,  but  the  fact  of  his 
service  in  the  American  vessel  is  indubitably  attested 
by  the  official  records  of  the  prize-money  which  was 
awarded  to  him  by  Congress. 

The  grandson  of  Thomas  Chase,  who  took  down 
these  recollections  from  the  lips  of  his  grandfather,  was 
a  Methodist  minister  and  a  member  of  the  Maine 
Methodist  conference.  In  later  life  he  read  law  and 
became  a  member  of  the  Franklin  County  (Maine)  bar. 
He  was  a  lover  of  history,  an  accurate  student,  and  an 
absolutely  reliable  reporter  of  the  facts. 

The  great-granddaughter  of  Thomas  Chase  was  the 
well-known  writer,  Elizabeth  Akers,2  lately  resident 
in  Tuckahoe,  New  York.    Aside  from  the  unques- 

1  Copies  of  this  rare  pamphlet  are  preserved  in  the  Harvard  Library 
and  in  the  Newberry  Library  in  Chicago. 

2  Mrs.  Akers's  verses  are  to  be  found  in  Griswold's  and  Stoddard's 
collection  of  poetry,  in  Whittier's  "Three  Centuries,"  in  Bryant's  "Po- 
etry and  Song,"  in  Longfellow's  "Poems  of  Places,"  and  in  Stedman's 
"Anthology."  She  was  the  widow  of  Paul  Akers,  the  Maine  sculptor, 
a  sketch  of  whose  life  is  to  be  found  in  H.  T.  Tuckerman's  "American 
Artists."  Mrs.  Akers  supplied  the  writer  with  the  above  information, 
and  stated  that  the  facts  as  related  by  Thomas  Chase  to  her  father 
were  corroborated  by  Chase's  widow,  the  Desir6  Luce  of  the  narrative, 
with  whom  she  spent  a  summer  in  her  early  youth.  Mrs.  Akers  died  in 
1911. 


44  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

tionably  reliable  character  of  the  individuals  who 
furnished  and  transmitted  this  information,  another 
and  absolutely  undeniable  proof  that  Paul  Jones  act- 
ually made  this  visit  to  Martha's  Vineyard  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  the  Portuguese  sailor  who  called  him- 
self Joe  Frederick  did  not  re-embark  with  Jones,  but 
remained  on  the  island  and  shortly  after  married  a 
woman  of  that  place.  This  woman  never  left  the  island, 
and  in  her  old  age  received,  as  his  widow,  prize-money 
from  the  government  for  her  husband's  share  in  capt- 
ures made  during  his  subsequent  services  in  the  Amer- 
ican squadron  under  Paul  Jones.  In  addition  to  this 
fact,  which  is  unexplainable  except  by  the  foregoing 
narrative,  we  have  Jones's  own  admission  in  the  letter 
to  Robert  Smith,  of  Edenton,  that  he,  together  with 
James  Smith,  had  been  at  one  time  a  "son  of  fortune." 
There  is  also  evidence  of  a  fairly  startling  confirma- 
tory character  in  another  statement  of  Jones  him- 
self, made  to  Willie  Jones,  of  North  Carolina,  when 
he  was  a  guest  in  the  latter's  home,  "The  Grove,"  near 
Halifax,  in  the  year  1775,  that  "he  served  his  appren- 
ticeship, in  the  African  slave  trade  and  later  but  under 
duress,  in  a  straight  out  Pirate  ship,  both  of  which  he 
threw  up,  as  neither  was  congenial  to  his  liking." 
This  statement,  known  to  Major  Knox,  of  Mecklen- 
burg County,  Virginia,  while  he  was  also  a  guest 
at  "The  Grove,"  was  repeated  by  Knox  in  his  old 
age  to  Colonel  Wharton  Green,1  ex-member  of  Con- 
gress from  North  Carolina,  and  now  residing  at 
Fayetteville,  in  that  State.  The  statement,  thus 
directly  transmitted  through  only  one  intermediary, 

x  Colonel  Green  died  in  1910. 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  45 

the  author  in  a  letter  from  Colonel  Green.  Colonel 
Green  had  passed  the  age  of  eighty  when  he  wrote  the 
letter,  and  was  himself  a  youth  when  he  heard  it  from 
Major  Knox  in  his  extreme  old  age.  The  combined 
ages  of  the  two  men  easily  spans  the  time  from  1775 
to  1908,  when  Colonel  Green  recorded  it,  and  the 
presumption  that  it  was  transmitted  correctly  in  prac- 
tically Jones's  own  words  is  greatly  increased  by  the 
fact  that  it  contained  the  expression  "under  duress. " 
This  expression,  explanatory  of  Jones's  presence  on  the 
"Pirate"  ship,  referred  without  question  to  the  fatal- 
ity at  Tobago,  when  he  killed  the  leader  of  the  mu- 
tiny on  board  the  Betsey,  an  incident  which  was 
entirely  unknown  to  Colonel  Green.  Major  Knox,  a 
member  of  a  well-known  Virginia  family,  belonged  to 
that  class  of  perennial  visitors  in  the  hospitable  homes 
of  the  South  during  the  colonial  period,  and  was  ex- 
ceedingly popular  on  account  of  his  genial  character 
and  his  inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote.  "  The  Grove  " 
was  one  of  his  favorite  "homes,"  and  there  he  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  facts  and  traditions  of  the 
family  and  its  friends. 

The  probabilities  in  regard  to  this  remarkable  inci- 
dent of  Jones's  descent  upon  Martha's  Vineyard  are 
that  when  he  fled  in  haste  from  the  port  of  Rockley  Bay, 
after  killing  the  mutineer,  he  "mounted  his  horse"  and, 
riding  to  the  southern  shore  of  the  island,  made  his  way 
in  some  small  boat  to  the  neighboring  island  of  Trini- 
dad, which  lies  directly  to  the  south  of  Tobago,  only 
fifteen  miles  away.  Here,  in  Spanish  territory,  he 
sought  for  an  opportunity  to  get  out  of  reach  of  the 


46  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

dangers  which  so  seriously  threatened  him,  and,  taking 
the  first  chance  which  offered,  shipped  aboard  a  "mer- 
chantman" and  put  to  sea.f  The  merchantman  was 
armed  and  manned  with  a  crew  of  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese desperadoes,  and,  according  to  his  own  state- 
ment, was  really  a  pirate  ship.  Although  by  successive 
agreements — the  "  Treaty  of  America,"  in  1670,  and 
that  of  Utrecht,  in  1713 — strong  efforts  had  been 
made  to  wipe  out  piracy  in  the  West  Indies  by  the 
various  nations  of  Europe,  it  broke  out  again  during 
the  maritime  war  between  France  and  England,  in 
1740,  and  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  in  which 
England  and  France  as  well  as  Spain  were  embroiled, 
their  vessels  attacked  each  other  on  the  seas,  and  the 
rich  West  Indian  merchant-ships  became  a  prey  to 
the  commerce-destroying  corsairs  of  all  nations.  By 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763,  which  concluded  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  an  interregnum  of  peace  began  which 
lasted  until  the  outbreak  of  the  conflict  between 
England  and  her  American  colonies,  in  which  France, 
Spain,  and  the  Netherlands  were  all  again  involved. 
During  the  intervening  years  the  world  was  supposed 
to  be  at  peace,  but  it  was  impossible  entirely  to  con- 
trol the  piratical  vessels  which  had  so  long  been  free 
to  roam  the  West  Indian  seas,  and  in  those  distant 
waters  they  still  carried  on  their  lawless  trade.  The 
long  animosity  of  Spain  against  England  was  still  ac- 
tive, and  the  corsairs  of  that  nation,  although  no  longer 
bearing  the  murderous  character  of  their  celebrated 
predecessors  who  sailed  the  Spanish  main,  still  attacked 
British  merchantmen  whenever  they  fell  in  with  them. 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  47 

The  corsairs  of  France  were  also  in  the  habit  of  taking 
defenceless  American  vessels  coming  from  the  French 
ports  in  the  West  Indies  as  late  as  the  year  1797,  in 
spite  of  the  alliance  of  France  with  the  United  States. 

When  the  general  European  war  broke  out  again,  in 
consequence  of  the  conflict  between  England  and  Amer- 
ica, piracy  became  again  increasingly  active,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  practised  by  both  French  and  Spanish  ves- 
sels up  to  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  was  for  many  years  connived  at  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  sea-coast  towns  of  the  Carolinas,  and  many  re- 
spectable colonists  themselves  indulged  in  the  pursuit. 
In  the  maritime  colonies  of  the  North  the  same  leniency 
prevailed,  the  descendants  of  the  buccaneers  finding  it 
no  difficult  matter  to  strike  a  bargain  with  the  English 
Governor  Fletcher,  of  old  New  York,  who  also  per- 
mitted the  merchants  of  his  own  domain  to  make  what 
profit  they  could  under  what  passed  as  the  sanction  of 
law.  This  sanction  the  ships  and  captains  of  the  col- 
ony considered  to  be  in  force  whenever  England  hap- 
pened to  be  at  war  with  France  or  Spain.  The  ship- 
owners of  New  York  were  on  such  excellent  terms  with 
the  "Red  Sea  men,"  as  the  rovers  of  the  sea  were  called 
in  those  days,  that  the  pirate  captain  was  a  familiar 
figure  in  the  streets  and  often  an  honored  guest  at  the 
tables  of  the  honest  burghers.  Many  of  the  fortunes 
amassed  during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  centuries,  not  only  in 
New  York,  but  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  had  their 
foundations  in  this  picturesque  trade. 

The  first  American  privateers  who  went  to  sea  in 


48  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

their  own  armed  vessels  at  the  beginning  of  the  hostili- 
ties against  the  mother  country,  before  the  provincial 
assemblies  issued  letters  of  marque,  were  legally  pirates, 
and  ran  the  risk  of  the  punishment  meted  out  to  such 
non-commissioned  rovers  of  the  sea.  The  American 
Government  did  not  scruple  to  accept  the  services  of 
the  celebrated  Lafitte  in  the  defence  of  New  Orleans 
in  1815.  Two  years  later  a  military  force  was  sent 
out  to  take  possession  of  Amelia  Island,  the  rendezvous 
of  the  pirates  on  the  coast  of  Florida.  During  the 
years  1821  and  1822  as  many  as  thirty-two  Spanish 
piratical  vessels  were  taken  by  American  ships  in  the 
West  Indian  waters  and  off  the  coasts  of  Cuba,  but, 
on  account  of  a  pretended  blockade  established  by 
the  Cuban  authorities,  American  trading-vessels  ac- 
cused of  violating  it  were  captured  with  impunity  by 
the  pirates,  and  the  American  commanders  appealed 
in  vain  for  assistance  to  the  Governor  of  Cuba  in  their 
attempt  to  bring  them  to  justice. 

In  December,  1822,  the  secretary  of  the  navy  recom- 
mended to  Congress  that  an  important  additional  force 
should  be  sent  to  bring  an  end  to  the  outrages  which 
were  committed  against  American  commerce  with  the 
connivance  of  the  Cuban  Government,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  Captain  David  Porter  made  a  desperate 
attempt  to  track  out  and  exterminate  all  piratical  ves- 
sels, not  only  in  the  Cuban  waters,  but  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  among  the  West  Indian  islands.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  countenance  and  support  of 
the  Governor  of  Cuba,  who  had  been  unable  without 
outside  assistance  to  exercise  the  least  control  over  the 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  49 

pirates  or  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  who  were  in 
league  with  them.  Although  compelled  to  follow  the 
marauders  among  the  reefs  and  inlets  of  the  island 
coasts,  in  open  boats  and  barges,  and  into  the  noisome 
jungles,  whither  they  took  refuge,  Porter  and  his  effi- 
cient subordinates  finally  succeeded  in  practically  ex- 
terminating them.  At  the  end  of  a  six  months'  cam- 
paign, with  a  force  decimated  by  yellow-fever  and  in  a 
dangerously  reduced  condition  of  health,  Porter  was 
able  to  announce  that  "no  piratical  vessel  larger  than 
an  open  boat  was  left  on  the  coast  of  Cuba  or  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico."  The  ship  on  which  Paul  Jones  em- 
barked in  the  year  1773  was  of  no  inconsiderable  size, 
according  to  the  description  in  Chase's  narrative,  and, 
as  its  head-quarters  were  the  Spanish  West  Indies  and 
it  was  manned  with  Spaniards,  it  was  in  all  probability 
one  of  the  numerous  ships  belonging  to  Spanish  sub- 
jects which  were  still  permitted  to  prey  upon  British 
commerce  in  the  distant  waters  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere. No  effectual  measures  were  taken  by  the 
Spanish  court  to  restrain  them  at  this  period  or  even 
later,  when  they  attacked  American  vessels  as  well  with 
a  persistency  born  of  long  habit  and  the  known  con- 
nivance of  the  governors  of  the  Spanish  possessions 
in  the  New  World.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  Jones 
was  in  command  of  the  "privateer"  or  "merchant- 
man" when  he  first  went  to  sea.1 

Carrying  only  enough  money  for  his  immediate  ne- 


1  The  several  Spanish  names  for  pirates,  armed  smugglers,  and  priva- 
teers (piratas,  contrabandistas,  and  corsarios)  were  used  in  ordinary 
parlance  by  the  Spaniards  as  synonymous. 


50  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

cessities,  and  compelled  to  conceal  both  his  name  and 
history,  he  was  in  no  position  to  demand  the  command 
of  the  ship  or  to  ask  unnecessary  questions  as  to  its 
character  or  destination.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
he  first  shipped  in  a  subordinate  capacity,  perhaps  as 
mate,  and  that  he  became  captain  after  the  death  of 
the  officer,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  encounter  with  the 
English  ship  off  Long  Island.  The  narrative  of  Thomas 
Chase  states  that  he  announced  himself  as  a  "special 
privateer/ '  which  was  probably  his  way  of  admitting 
that  the  vessel  bore  no  letter  of  marque  from  the 
Spanish  Government.  It  is  important  to  remember 
the  condition  of  public  opinion  during  this  century 
of  almost  universal  warfare  in  regard  to  these  private 
commerce-destroying  ships,  and  to  recall  that  the  dis- 
tinction between  pirate  ships  and  privateers  in  those 
days  was  extremely  hazy. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  1784, 
Franklin  attempted  to  secure  the  adoption  of  articles, 
to  be  signed  by  England  and  the  United  States,  for 
the  discontinuance  of  privateering,  which  he  declared 
was  a  remnant  of  piracy  and  very  bad  for  the  morals 
of  his  countrymen.  Howsoever  lax  were  the  laws 
against  piracy,  howsoever  leniently  and  sometimes  ad- 
miringly it  was  regarded  during  those  transition  years 
when  "might  was  still  right"  upon  the  high  seas,  Paul 
Jones  did  not  and  could  not  remain  in  the  hated 
employment  he  had  accepted  in  his  emergency.  It 
was  entirely  characteristic  that  he  should  have  made 
no  secret  of  the  incidents  of  his  life  to  the  friends  he 
found  in  America,  particularly  in  regard  to  his  tempo- 


PERIOD  OF  ADVENTURE  51 

rary  and  enforced  activity  in  a  contraband  trade  which 
had  been  so  long  indulgently  regarded  by  the  well- 
known  inhabitants  of  the  community,  but  it  was  also 
highly  characteristic  that  he  should  have  immediately 
abandoned  it,  as  he  had  his  service  in  the  slave-trade, 
in  the  revolt  of  a  noble  nature  fitted  for  higher  ends. 


CHAPTER  III 

CHANGE  OF  NAME 

It  is  impossible  to  approximate  the  date  of  Paul  Jones's 
arrival  in  America  after  his  cruise  in  the  Spanish  ship. 

We  know  from  his  own  statement  that  the  unfortu- 
nate death  of  the  mutineer  was  the  cause  which  brought 
him  into  the  colonies,  and  we  learn  from  his  letter  to 
Franklin  that  his  friends  advised  him  to  absent  him- 
self from  Tobago  until  an  admiralty  court  should  be 
appointed  in  the  island.  If  we  believe  that  his  disgust 
with  the  character  of  his  employment  probably  caused 
him  to  leave  the  vessel  at  the  expiration  of  her  first 
cruise,  and  if  we  remember  that  he  was  steering  his 
course  toward  the  West  Indies  when  he  left  Martha's 
Vineyard,  in  September,  1773,  it  seems  probable  that  he 
arrived  at  the  head-quarters  of  his  ship  somewhere  about 
November  of  this  year,  as  the  voyage  on  a  sailing  vessel 
in  those  days  took  from  a  month  to  six  weeks.  Jones 
now  found  himself  again  without  employment,  and,  de- 
ciding to  take  refuge  in  North  America,  he  made  his  way 
to  Edenton,  a  seaport  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina, 
the  residence  of  his  friend  James  Smith,  hoping  to 
obtain  from  him  the  assistance  and  advice  of  which 
he  stood  so  much  in  need. 

He  did  not  dare  to  go  to  his  brother  in  Fredericks- 
burg, because  he  was  forced  to  retain  his  incognito, 
and  dreaded  a  possible  recognition  from  those  whom  he 

52 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  53 

had  known  there  in  former  years.  As  there  is  nothing 
to  indicate  that  he  received  any  assistance  at  this 
time,  we  must  assume  that  James  Smith  was  absent 
from  Edenton  and  that  Paul  Jones  now  found  him- 
self in  great  distress.  Nearly  penniless  and  unable  to 
travel  any  distance  from  the  sea-coast,  he  was  forced 
to  seek  an  asylum  in  some  retired  spot  not  far  from 
Edenton,  where,  without  news  or  remittances  from  his 
friends,  he  was  left  to  pine  in  the  deepest  loneliness,  a 
prey,  as  he  bitterly  expressed  it,  to  "melancholy  and 
want." 

The  probability  that  these  are  indeed  the  facts  in 
regard  to  this  obscure  period  in  Jones's  life  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  first  recorded  testimony  as  to  the 
place  where  he  was  first  seen  after  his  arrival  in 
America  as  well  as  by  his  own  references  to  this  time 
contained  in  the  above-quoted  letter  to  his  friend  in 
Tobago.  His  early  biographers  were  quite  unable  to 
discover  the  identity  of  those  strangers  who  assisted  him 
in  his  "extreme  need,"  but  a  mass  of  tradition  exists 
which  furnishes  full  and  credible  information  in  regard 
to  them.  The  descendants  of  these  benefactors  have 
fully  testified  to  the  manner  in  which  Paul  Jones  was 
aided  and  protected  by  their  distinguished  ancestors, 
who  belonged  to  the  well-known  Jones  family  of  North 
Carolina,  and  resided  near  Albemarle  Sound,  on  the 
same  contraband  coast  where  Jones  landed  in  search 
of  his  comrade  James  Smith.1 

On  a  day  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1775,  Willie 
Jones  came  into  the  little  town  of  Halifax,  from  his 

1  See  Appendix  C. 


54  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

neighboring  estate,  and  found  a  young  man  sitting  on 
a  bench  in  front  of  the  tavern,  who  had  every  appear- 
ance of  the  greatest  dejection.  "What  is  your  name? " 
he  asked  him.  "  I  have  none,"  was  the  answer.  "  Where 
is  your  home?"  he  asked.  "I  have  none,"  was  again 
the  reply.  He  then  entered  into  further  conversation 
with  the  stranger,  and  invited  him  forthwith  to  share 
his  home,  which  he  declared  was  "large  enough  for 
both  of  them."2  This  dejected  stranger  was  none 
other  than  Paul  Jones.  Although  several  modern  his- 
torians of  his  career  have  been  aware  of  the  tradi- 
tions which  connected  him  with  the  well-known  Jones 
family  of  North  Carolina,  they  have  vainly  sought  for 
some  records  in  his  papers  which  would  confirm  these 
reports.  The  present  writer,  more  fortunate  in  the 
search,  discovered,  in  the  year  1906,  the  desired  evi- 
dence among  Jones's  MSS.  in  Washington,  in  the  shape 
of  a  letter  from  Doctor  John  K.  Read,  of  Goochland 
County,  Virginia,  written  in  the  year  1778.  It  refers 
to  a  period  when  they  were  both  guests  at  Willie  Jones's 
place,  "The  Grove."  The  letter  professes  an  enthusi- 
astic admiration  for  Jones,  expressed  in  the  character- 
istic phraseology  of  the  period:  "Shall  I  tell  you  that 
I  had  fears  that  my  friend  had  forgot  me;  but  those 
fears  were  momentary  and  gave  place  to  other  feelings 
when  I  reflected  on  the  many  sentimental  hours  which 
passed  between  us  at  'The  Grove.' "  This,  then,  was 
the  refuge  which  Paul  Jones  found  in  the  hour  of  his 
necessity.    The  man  who  so  generously  aided  the  home- 

*  His  account  is  taken  from  the  letter  from  Colonel  Wharton  Green 
referred  to  above,  page  45. 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  55 

less  and  penniless  stranger  was  a  brilliant  and  power- 
ful figure  in  the  Revolution,  whose  services  have  been 
strangely  lost  sight  of  in  the  fame  of  his  greater  con- 
temporaries. 

Willie  (pronounced  Wylie)  Jones  and  his  brother 
Allen  were  the  sons  of  Robert  Jones,  the  colonial  agent 
of  the  enormous  estates  of  Lord  Granville  in  North 
Carolina.  Until  destroyed  by  Tarleton's  soldiers,  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  war,  the  paternal  home  of  Willie 
and  Allen  Jones  was  the  most  splendid  in  the  State. 
It  stood  in  what  Robin  Jones  in  his  will  described  as 
his  "Manor  Plantation,"  on  the  Occaneechey  Neck  in 
North  Hampton  County,  near  Albemarle  Sound,  in  the 
centre  of  a  large  tract  of  land  by  the  side  of  the  river 
Roanoke.  A  very  luxurious  existence  was  established 
in  the  beautiful  wilderness,  with  its  virgin  forests  and  its 
views  of  river  and  sea.  The  rich  and  powerful  agent  of 
Lord  Granville  built  a  house  of  wide  rooms  and  marble 
staircases,  filled  it  with  English  furniture  and  English 
plate,  dressed  elegantly  with  diamond  buckles  at  his 
knees,  drove  out  in  a  chariot,  and  at  church  was 
followed  by  an  attendant  slave  to  carry  his  book  of 
prayer.  As  attorney-general  to  the  province  he  attained 
fame  by  his  fluent  oratory,  and  made  the  speech  of  his 
life  on  the  day  he  was  compelled  to  suffer  the  amputa- 
tion of  his  leg.  The  sons  of  this  man  were  educated 
at  Eton,  inherited  position  and  ample  fortune,  and  be- 
came each  powerful  and  distinguished  in  his  own  way. 
Allen  Jones  inherited  the  oratorical  gifts  of  his  father, 
and  was  known  also  for  his  military  services;  but 
Willie  Jones  was  a  practical  statesman,  and,  according 


56  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

to  Moore,  the  historian  of  North  Carolina,  was  to  his 
State  what  Jefferson  was  to  Virginia.  The  homes  of 
the  two  brothers  were  situated  a  few  miles  distant  from 
each  other.  "The  Grove"  was  near  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  little  town  of  Halifax,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Roanoke.  Allen  lived  at  "  Mount  Gallant,"  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  river,  at  the  head  of  the  Roanoke 
Falls.  Both  Allen  and  Willie  carried  on  the  traditions 
of  their  father  and  entertained  on  their  large  estates 
with  lavish  generosity. 

Willie  Jones  was  a  warm  advocate  of  Jefferson's 
policy  and  the  leading  representative  and  mouth-piece 
of  the  opinions  and  thoughts  of  the  whole  colony.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  general  assemblies  of  North 
Carolina  from  1770  until  the  year  1774.  He  was  later 
chairman  of  the  provisional  council  appointed  by  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  by  this  office  was  virtual 
Governor  of  North  Carolina.  It  was  his  hand  and  pen 
which  framed  the  State  constitution  of  North  Carolina, 
and  his  overpowering  influence  in  favor  of  the  jealously 
guarded  States'  rights  which  held  back  North  Caro- 
lina's ratification  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  1788. 

A  description  of  Willie  Jones,  his  personality  and 
political  methods,  written  by  the  biographer  of  James 
Iredell,  a  resident  of  Edenton,  and  afterward  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  this 
attractive  and  powerful  figure. 

Willie  Jones  of  Halifax  was  the  most  influential  poli- 
tician in  the  state.    Ultra-democratic  in  theory,  he  was 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  57 

aristocratic  in  habits,  tastes,  pursuits  and  prejudices. 
He  lived  sumptuously  and  wore  fine  linen.  He  raced, 
hunted  and  played  cards;  he  was  proud  of  his  wealth 
and  social  position,  and  fastidious  in  the  selection  of 
friends  for  his  family.  A  patriot  in  the  Revolution, 
he  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  a  great  party.  His 
knowledge  of  human  nature  was  consummate,  and  in 
the  arts  of  insinuation  he  was  unrivaled.  He  had  the 
power  of  forecast  and  combination  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree. 

Though  generally  relentless  and  uncompromising  as 
a  partisan,  he  had  a  generous  heart.  His  time  of  ac- 
tion was  chiefly  during  the  hours  of  adjournment;  then 
it  was  that  he  stimulated  the  passions,  aroused  the 
suspicions,  and  moderated  the  ardor  of  his  followers. 
Then  it  was  that,  smoking  his  pipe,  and  chatting  of 
crops,  ploughs,  stocks,  and  dogs,  he  stole  his  way  into 
the  hearts  of  the  honest  farmers. 

This  was  Willie  Jones  as  his  contemporaries  knew 
him;  a  man  of  constructive  and  legal  brain  and  of 
great  personal  power  and  distinction.  His  adoption 
of  Paul  Jones  was  unreserved  and  enthusiastic.  His 
"consummate  knowledge  of  human  nature,"  his  "pow- 
ers of  forecast"  recognized  the  unusual  character  of  the 
stranger  he  had  befriended,  and  with  the  whole-hearted 
kindness  which  characterized  him,  he  rescued  him  from 
his  misfortunes  and  opened  the  way  to  complete  re- 
habilitation. No  more  striking  proof  could  possibly 
be  asked  of  the  extraordinary  charm  of  Paul  Jones's 
personality  than  this  experience,  for  although  Willie 
Jones's  tastes  were  exceedingly  aristocratic  and  ex- 
clusive, yet  he  welcomed  him  to  the  intimacy  of  his 
home  and  to  the  carefully  chosen  circle  of  his  friends. 


58  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Although  married  in  the  following  year  to  Mary 
Montfort,  the  young  daughter  of  his  guardian,  Willie 
Jones  was  at  this  time  keeping  bachelor's  hall  at  "The 
Grove."  Iredell's  biographer  informs  us  that  having 
refused  to  sell  his  racing  stable  of  fifty  blooded  horses 
at  the  demand  of  Miss  Sukey  Cornell,  he  lost  this 
young  lady  and  her  large  fortune.  He  was  not  only 
leader  of  his  State  in  all  matters  political,  but  the  au- 
thority on  racing  and  all  field  sports.  A  one-mile  race- 
track ran  through  the  estate,  directly  past  the  dining- 
room,  which  occupied  the  back  of  the  house.  This  room 
had  a  high  mantel  reaching  to  the  ceiling  and  wide 
curved  windows  of  English  glass  commanding  a  full 
view  of  the  course.  Panelled  drawing-rooms  with  large 
fireplaces  opened  on  either  side  of  a  central  hall.  A 
flight  of  red  sandstone  steps  led  up  to  the  pillared  en- 
trance, which  was  shaded  by  the  many  trees  which  gave 
the  name  to  the  place,  and  which  the  master  in  his  will 
directed  should  be  carefully  preserved. 

The  proprietor  of  this  hospitable  mansion  owned  as 
many  as  fifteen  hundred  slaves,  who  cultivated  the  gar- 
dens and  worked  the  looms  and  made  the  salt  and 
planted  the  tobacco  and  the  various  crops  which  grew 
upon  his  fertile  acres. 

Across  the  river  Allen  Jones  also  kept  open  house  for 
all  visiting  friends  and  strangers,  according  to  the  cus- 
tom of  the  day.  He  was  already  married,  and  his  wife 
was  Rebecca  Edwards,  sister  of  the  secretary  of  the 
celebrated  Governor  Try  on.  The  historians  of  North 
Carolina  tell  us  that  this  lady's  beauty  was  so  dark  and 
striking  that  she  was  known  as  the  Indian  queen.    She 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  59 

was  considered  the  most  accomplished  woman  of  the 
province,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  elegance  of  her 
manners  and  the  "taste  and  beauty  of  her  domestic  ar- 
rangements." Her  youth  had  been  passed  in  associa- 
tion with  the  household  of  the  tyrannical  but  superb  old 
Governor  Tryon,  at  his  palace  at  New  Berne,  built 
from  the  revenues  of  the  colony,  and  the  most  imposing 
vice-regal  residence  of  the  New  World.  There,  in  the 
spacious  ballroom,  she  had  danced  in  the  minuets  and 
gavottes  which  the  governor  and  his  lady  loved  to  com- 
mand and  to  witness  from  their  exalted  thrones.  Such 
was  the  life  and  such  the  customs  which  formed  the 
manners  of  the  lady  of  "Mount  Gallant." 

Her  descendants  have  related  that  Paul  Jones  was 
quite  as  favored  a  guest  in  her  home  as  at  "The  Grove," 
and  that  he  was  cared  for  during  an  attack  of  typhoid 
fever  at  "Mount  Gallant."  This  house  is  now  oc- 
cupied in  its  decay  by  a  descendant  of  Allen  Jones's 
house-keeper,  and  the  room  in  which  its  celebrated  in- 
mate was  nursed  back  to  health  is  still  pointed  out  to 
curious  visitors. 

Both  "Mount  Gallant"  and  "The  Grove"  were  cen- 
tres of  colonial  hospitality,  but  Willie  Jones  possessed 
a  far  more  powerful  individuality  than  his  brother,  and 
it  was  undoubtedly  at  his  home  that  Paul  Jones  met 
and  mingled  with  the  distinguished  men  of  the  province. 
A  later  North  Carolina  chronicler  writes: 

It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  brilliant  and 
attractive  home  than  that  of  Colonel  Willie  Jones  in 
historic  Halifax.  It  was  like  Monticello,  the  home  of 
his  friend  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  home  which,  by  the 


60  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

magnetism  of  genius  and  high  breeding,  drew  to  its 
cherishing  hearthstone  everything  of  wit,  wisdom,  and 
cultured  merit  that  came  within  reach,  and  which  gave 
out  of  all  these  as  freely  and  richly  as  it  received. 

In  the  pages  of  the  State  histories  of  North  Carolina 
are  found  the  names  of  the  men  who  were  Willie  Jones's 
friends  and  associates.  Harvey,  the  great  moderator, 
who  led  the  revolting  colonists  to  defy  the  English  gov- 
ernor; Iredell,  the  distinguished  jurist,  and  Caswell, 
Hooper,  and  Hewes,  the  leading  members  of  the  colonial 
assembly,  were  frequently  entertained  at  "The  Grove," 
and  there  discussed  the  vital  questions  which  were  stir- 
ring them  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement. 

Introduced  by  Willie  Jones,  the  young  stranger 
played  his  part  in  all  the  merrymakings  of  the  province, 
and  met  on  terms  of  equality  those  lovely  women  whose 
patriotism  and  charming  qualities  were  the  favorite 
themes  of  the  State  chroniclers.  The  two  daughters 
of  Joseph  Montfort,  afterward  Mrs.  Willie  Jones  and 
Mrs.  Ashe,  were  particularly  prominent  among  those 
who  sympathized  with  the  Revolution.  They  were  at 
this  time  unmarried,  and  the  adornment  of  Montfort 
House,  which  has  been  described  as  "a  realm  of  maiden 
beauty,  a  home  of  sparkling  wit  and  innocent  mirth," 
and  where,  without  doubt,  Willie  Jones  and  his  guests 
were  always  welcome.  But  in  spite  of  the  gayeties  and 
distractions  of  this  agreeable  colonial  society,  liberty 
was  the  universal  theme,  and  plans  for  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  colonies  were  in  every  mind  and  on  every 
tongue. 

The  people  of  North  Carolina  had  early  enrolled 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  61 

themselves  on  the  side  of  independence,  and  Paul  Jones 
found  himself  in  the  centre  of  a  very  hot-bed  of  Revo- 
lutionary activity.  As  early  as  October,  1774,  seven 
months  before  the  defiant  farmers  of  Mecklenburg  had 
been  aroused  to  the  point  of  signing  their  declaration 
of  independence,  nearly  two  years  before  Jefferson 
penned  the  immortal  declaration,  and  soon  after  the 
more  celebrated  Boston  tea-party,  the  women  of  Eden- 
ton  also  had  a  tea-party,  at  which  they  pledged  them- 
selves to  refrain  from  drinking  the  tea  which  had  been 
taxed  by  the  mother  country.  Paul  Jones  responded 
to  these  ideas  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  his  nature,  and 
swore  allegiance  to  the  cause  of  his  benefactors.  The 
extraordinary  contrast  of  his  present  situation  with  the 
period  of  darkness  and  overwhelming  misfortune  from 
which  he  had  just  emerged  reacted  upon  his  mind  in  a 
manner  natural  to  a  man  of  such  qualities  and  endow- 
ment. 

He  was  yet  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  he  possessed 
the  glorious  but  perilous  attributes  of  genius.  In  mis- 
fortune such  as  descended  upon  his  soul  after  the  death 
of  the  mutineer,  and  in  the  long  months  of  penury  which 
followed  his  abandonment  of  the  hated  employment 
which  he  had  adopted  "under  duress,"  he  had  sunk 
into  a  condition  of  dangerous  melancholy.  In  the  asso- 
ciation with  sympathetic  minds  such  as  he  encountered 
while  under  the  protection  of  his  generous  benefactor, 
his  highly  imaginative  intellect  found  new  channels  of 
expression  in  "free  thoughts"  and  plans  for  splendid 
achievement.  The  most  sympathetic  trait  in  the 
character  of  this  remarkable  man  is  the  childlike  candor 


62  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  his  attitude  toward  all  who  ever  loved  or  compre- 
hended him.  It  has  been  seen  how  courageously  he 
bore  the  obloquy  which  followed  the  death  of  Mungo 
Maxwell  and  to  what  an  extent  he  was  physically  af- 
fected by  the  torment  of  this  experience  while  yet  in  his 
very  early  youth.  Now  he  was  delivered  from  another 
period  of  misfortune,  emerging  from  darkness  into  light 
under  a  new  name,  to  new  life  and  hopes.  Still  young 
and  full  of  strength,  with  his  incomparable  powers  fresh 
and  unimpaired,  he  realized  the  opportunities  offered 
him  in  the  New  World  and  adopted  the  cause  of  human 
liberty.  Although  he  had  shown  skill,  application,  and 
ambition  in  his  chosen  career  during  the  years  of  his 
boyhood  and  early  youth,  under  the  influences  which  he 
now  encountered  his  character  took  its  final  and  definite 
shape,  and  a  new  incentive  and  impetus  was  given  to  the 
development  of  his  ambition.  In  the  roving  sailor's  life 
he  had  led  since  his  earliest  childhood  he  had  never  had 
any  associations  comparable  to  those  he  now  enjoyed 
at  "The  Grove."  Here,  indeed,  was  a  society  far  other 
than  that  he  had  known  in  his  narrow  Scottish  home, 
different  far  from  that  he  found  in  his  brother's  little 
shop  in  Fredericksburg,  heaven  itself  in  comparison  to 
the  long  months  on  West  Indian  trading-ships  in  turbu- 
lent companionship  with  brutal  and  mutinous  sailors. 
Those  who  would  seek  the  source  of  the  passion  for 
distinction  now  born  in  the  mind  of  Paul  Jones  will 
readily  find  it  in  his  determination  to  surmount  the 
humble  and  doubtful  conditions  of  his  birth,  and  the 
lowering  influences  of  his  recent  occupations  with  their 
sinister  consequences,  by  the  exercise  of  his  powers  in 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  63 

a  new  and  honorable  field.  The  gratitude  which  he 
bore  his  benefactors,  coinciding  with  his  warm  sympa- 
thy for  the  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged,  were  the 
reasons  which  he  assigned  for  becoming  an  American, 
and  these  sentiments  sprang  from  the  singular  ideality 
and  freshness  of  feeling  which  marked  his  character. 
This  ideality,  in  striking  contrast  with  his  virile  intel- 
lect and  inflexible  strength  of  will,  was  highly  sympa- 
thetic with  the  sentiment  of  the  period. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  desired  to 
express  his  recognition  of  the  incalculable  benefits  he 
had  received  in  this  time  of  his  extreme  need  in  some 
significant  and  unusual  form.  That  expression,  accord- 
ing to  the  traditions  of  the  descendants  of  his  benefac- 
tors, was  found  in  his  adoption  of  their  name.  The 
story  current  in  the  North  Carolina  Jones  family  nar- 
rates that  when  the  time  came  to  leave  the  hospitable 
doors  of  "The  Grove,"  Willie  Jones  offered  him  a  purse, 
which  he  refused,  asking  only  for  the  privilege  of  adding 
the  name  of  his  benefactors  to  his  own.  The  reason  he 
is  reported  to  have  given  was  that  "he  had  no  name  of 
which  he  could  be  proud,"  and  he  is  again  reported  to 
have  said  that  "if  he  lived  he  would  make  them  proud 
of  it."1 

From  this  time  on  he  used  the  name  of  John  Paul 
with  the  added  cognomen  of  Jones.  The  letters  be- 
longing to  the  period  immediately  succeeding  his  adop- 
tion of  the  name  and  which  pertain  to  the  first  years 
of  his  service  in  the  American  navy  are  all  signed 
J.  P.  Jones.    His  use  of  only  the  initials  of  his  original 

1  Statements  in  Colonel  Green's  letters  to  the  author.     See  page  45, 


64  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

name  in  this  new  signature  would  seem  to  indicate  his 
willingness  at  this  time  to  permit  his  identity  to  pass 
unnoticed.  In  later  years  he  signed  his  name  in  full, 
and  finally,  after  he  had  made  it  famous,  he  dropped 
the  first  name,  and  used  simply  Paul  Jones  upon  his 
visiting  cards. 

The  time  passed  in  association  with  these  dis- 
tinguished people  of  North  Carolina  may  well  be  con- 
sidered the  critical  period  in  his  history.  With  the 
same  assimilative  genius  which  gathered  an  education 
unusual  in  those  times  from  the  very  air  about  him, 
Paul  Jones  quickly  adopted  the  manners  of  the  gentle 
people  he  was  so  fortunate  to  meet  at  this  period  of  his 
career.  They  formed  his  standards  of  true  gentility 
and  fitted  him  to  shine  in  the  salons  of  Versailles. 
From  this  time  on  we  begin  to  see  the  Paul  Jones  of 
history — the  courteous  and  chivalric  gentleman,  the 
heroic  champion  of  human  liberty.  No  longer  living 
for  himself  except  as  he  might  win  glory  in  battle,  he 
was  ready  to  give  up  every  youthful  dream  and  life  it- 
self in  the  service  of  America.  The  son  of  the  Scotch 
gardener,  the  captain  of  West  India  trading-ships  and 
slavers,  in  a  few  weeks  experienced  this  truly  remarka- 
ble metamorphosis. 

The  fashioning  of  this  weapon  to  be  used  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  principle  of  human  liberty,  then  the 
universal  preoccupation  of  the  world,  is  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  resistless  progress  of  civilization,  the  in- 
evitable working  out  of  the  mysterious  plan  of  human 
development.  The  active  agent  in  this  extraordinary 
development  of  the  potentiality  of  Paul  Jones  was  again 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  65 

the  deus  ex  machina  in  the  train  of  events  which  brought 
those  potentialities  into  activity,  for  it  was  Willie  Jones 
who  introduced  him  to  Joseph  Hewes,  who  was  one  of 
the  three  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  from 
North  Carolina,  and  of  great  influence  in  the  councils 
of  the  new  nation. 

Joseph  Hewes  was  a  partner  in  the  ship-building  trade 
of  the  Robert  Smith  whose  brother  James,  Paul  Jones 
had  hoped  to  find  when  he  first  took  refuge  in  the  col- 
onies of  North  America;  but  in  the  absence  of  James 
Smith,  Jones  was  in  no  position  to  introduce  himself  to 
his  influential  brother  or  his  partner,  and  later  became 
known  to  them  both  under  the  auspices  of  his  opulent 
and  beneficent  host  and  patron.  During  the  autumn 
of  1774  Hewes  was  absent  in  Philadelphia  attending 
the  first  session  of  the  Continental  Congress  held  in  that 
city,  but  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Edenton  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  winter,  and  during  the  agitated  months 
which  preceded  the  open  outbreak  of  hostilities  between 
England  and  her  colonies  he  was  in  constant  attendance 
at  the  meetings  of  the  North  Carolina  assembly  and 
in  daily  association  with  the  leading  politicians  of  the 
State.  Already  deeply  interested  in  maritime  affairs, 
as  the  builder  and  owner  of  ships,  he  was  destined  to  be 
an  exceedingly  important  factor  in  the  organization  of 
the  navy  of  the  United  States.  The  friendship  and 
warm  admiration  which  he  immediately  conceived  for 
Paul  Jones  was  of  invaluable  service  to  the  man  who 
was  now  filled  with  a  burning  desire  to  be  of  service  to 
his  adopted  country.  The  relation  between  the  two 
men  immediately  became  exceedingly  close  and  even 


66  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

affectionate.  Paul  Jones  informed  Hewes  without  de- 
lay of  the  unfortunate  incidents  in  his  history,  and  was 
rewarded  for  his  frankness  and  confidence  by  a  protec- 
tion no  less  warm  than  it  was  effectual. 

While  without  the  aristocratic  background  or  politi- 
cal skill  of  Willie  Jones,  Hewes  had  a  constructive  and 
powerful  mind  and  the  most  faithful  heart  that  ever 
beat  for  friend  or  country.  Born  of  a  sturdy  family  of 
Connecticut  Quakers  who  were  driven  by  Indian  mas- 
sacres into  New  Jersey,  he  was  educated  at  the  schools 
of  Princeton  and  early  apprenticed  to  a  counting-house 
in  Philadelphia.  Released  from  his  indentures,  he  em- 
barked in  business  as  a  ship-owner,  and,  having  soon 
acquired  a  comfortable  fortune,  removed  at  the  age  of 
thirty  to  the  little  town  of  Edenton,  doubtless  on  ac- 
count of  its  advantages  as  a  port  for  the  West  Indian 
trade. 

Edenton,  although  a  small  community,  was  at  that 
time  the  capital  town  of  the  province  and  the  residence 
of  the  royal  governor,  Samuel  Johnson.  The  recollec- 
tions of  its  early  residents  describe  it  as  a  blest  abode, 
favored  by  nature  and  the  delightful  character  of  its 
society.  A  fertile  clearing  by  the  blue  bay-side,  sur- 
rounded by  forests,  bird-inhabited,  rich  with  hanging 
grape-vines  and  fragrant  with  every  Southern  bloom, 
this  virgin  region  was  given  its  name  from  the  colo- 
nial governor,  Eden,  and  during  the  pre-Revolutionary 
period  was  considered  the  court  end  of  the  province. 
There  was  no  better  society  in  all  the  colonies  than 
that  which  existed  in  and  about  this  little  town.  High 
ability,  noble  birth,  a  simple  yet  elegant  mode  of  life, 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  67 

warm  affections,  earnest  ambitions;  all  these  were 
found  among  the  distinguished  people  who  met  in  easy 
Southern  friendliness  and  the  enthusiasm  of  rising  pa- 
triotism around  the  hearth  fires  and  on  the  wide  piazzas 
of  happy  Edenton. 

Samuel  Johnson,  its  first  citizen,  and  governor  of  the 
province,  descended  from  a  noble  family  in  Scotland, 
was  a  power  not  only  in  the  colonial  but  also  in  the 
Revolutionary  period,  and  was  associated  with  all  the 
great  men  of  the  country.  He  brought  with  him  all 
the  English  fashions  and  entertained  many  people  of 
title  and  importance  at  his  home.  This  beautiful 
house,  which  set  the  fashion  of  architecture  for  the  col- 
ony, was  named  "Hays,"  from  the  home  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  in  England,  and  still  stands  on  an  eminence 
in  the  midst  of  its  formal  gardens  overlooking  the  bay 
of  Edenton,  a  crescent  of  water  rivalling  in  beauty  the 
bay  of  Naples.  In  the  vicinity  lived  Sir  Nathaniel 
Dukenfield,  the  great  James  Iredell,  called  by  Wash- 
ington to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  be- 
fore he  was  forty,  and  other  men  of  importance.  Into 
this  charmed  circle  Joseph  Hewes  was  soon  admitted. 
He  was  said  to  have  a  most  "unusual  amenity  of  man- 
ner," and  became  immediately,  in  spite  of  his  Quaker 
birth  and  bringing-up,  a  loved  and  popular  member  of 
Edenton  society.  When  Iredell  arrived  from  his  home 
in  England  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Edenton,  he  sent 
back  to  his  relatives  his  impression  of  Hewes :  "  I  must 
say  there  is  a  gentleman  in  this  town  who  is  a  particu- 
lar favorite  of  mine.  His  name  is  Hewes.  He  is  a  mer- 
chant here,  and  our  member  for  this  town,  the  patron 


68  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

and  the  greatest  honor  to  it.  About  six  or  seven  years 
ago  he  was  within  a  few  days  of  being  married  to  one 
of  Mr.  Johnson's  sisters,  who  died  rather  suddenly,  and 
this  unhappy  circumstance  for  the  time  embittered 
every  satisfaction  in  life  to  him.  He  has  continued 
since  unmarried,  which  I  believe  he  will  do.  His  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Johnson's  family  is  just  as  if  he  had 
really  been  his  brother-in-law,  a  circumstance  which 
mutually  does  honor  to  them  both. ' '  This  little  account 
tells  a  story  of  faithful  attachment  and  of  qualities  of 
character  both  firm  and  lovable. 

Joseph  Hewes  was  never  an  articulate  force  in  the 
councils  of  the  new  nation,  but  no  one  of  the  great 
men  who  established  American  independence  did  more 
essential  work  in  organization.  At  every  step  in  the 
history  of  North  Carolina  his  name  appears.  He  was 
member  of  the  general  assemblies  of  the  colony  from 
1766  to  1770,  one  of  the  committee  which  called  the 
Independent  Congress  of  North  Carolina  at  New  Berne, 
a  member  of  the  secret  committee  of  correspondence, 
and  delegate  to  the  first  Philadelphia  Congress.  He 
was  not  only  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, but  it  was  he  who  cast  the  deciding  vote  of  North 
Carolina  which  determined  the  adoption  of  that  im- 
mortal document.  "You  know,"  wrote  John  Adams 
to  Jefferson,  "that  the  unanimity  of  the  states  finally 
depended  on  the  vote  of  Joseph  Hewes."  Elsewhere 
he  wrote:  "One  day  while  a  member  was  producing  ar- 
guments to  show  that  the  general  opinion  of  all  the  col- 
onies was  for  independence,  and  among  them  North 
Carolina,  Hewes,  who  has  hitherto  constantly  voted 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  69 

against  it,  stood  suddenly  upright  and  lifting  both  hands 
to  Heaven  cried  out,  'It  is  done  and  I  will  abide  by  it.' 
I  would  give  more  for  a  perfect  painting  of  the  terror 
and  horror  upon  the  face  of  the  old  majority  at  that 
critical  moment,  than  for  the  best  piece  of  Raphael." 

In  the  already  quoted  life  and  correspondence  of 
James  Iredell  there  are  frequent  references  to  "Mr. 
Hewes  playing  backgammon  at  Hornblower's  Tavern," 
"Mr.  Hewes  making  the  responses  at  the  Episcopal 
Church  at  Edenton,"  and  on  one  occasion  arguing  on 
religious  questions  in  a  manner  quite  surprising  to  his 
interlocutors.  His  was  a  nature  anchored  by  heredity 
to  the  strictest  rules  of  conduct  and  responsibility,  but 
by  his  unusual  mental  endowment  eager  to  welcome 
every  sign  of  freedom  in  religious  thought,  every  hope 
of  liberty  for  his  country,  every  ardent  quality  in  a 
friend. 

Paul  Jones  was  exactly  the  man  to  have  attracted 
this  emancipated  Quaker,  and  there  was  another  very 
cogent  reason  for  their  intimacy  in  the  fact  that  Hewes 
was  an  owner  of  vessels  in  the  West  Indian  trade  and 
found  Jones's  long  experience  in  this  service  a  basis  for 
sympathetic  companionship. 

It  is  no  difficult  task  for  the  imagination  to  picture 
Hewes,  as  Iredell  often  described  him,  strolling  down 
through  the  wide,  tree-shaded  main  street  of  Edenton 
from  his  house  to  his  wharf  in  company  with  Paul  Jones, 
while  they  discussed  matters  connected  with  the  West 
Indian  trade  or  the  far  more  enthralling  questions  of 
that  remarkable  time.  Hewes  seems  to  have  recog- 
nized Jones's  capacity  from  the  very  first  moment  of 


70  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

their  acquaintance,  and  realized  what  services  he  might 
render  to  the  cause  of  the  colonists  in  the  conflict  which 
was  now  so  imminent. 

Paul  Jones  was  probably  quite  different  at  this  time 
from  the  rough  Captain  who  descended  in  the  "Pirate" 
ship  upon  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard.  The  open- 
air  exercise  of  the  hunting  and  riding  community  of 
North  Carolina  had  probably  given  him  that  slight  and 
graceful  figure  of  which  all  his  later  biographers  have 
written.  The  well-known  bust  by  Houdon,  made  a  few 
years  later,  was  pronounced  by  both  Madison  and  Jef- 
ferson to  be  wonderfully  faithful.  It  is  an  excellent 
example  of  that  great  sculptor's  minute  observation  and 
expression  of  character.  It  shows  the  face  of  the  true 
fighter,  and  bears  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  sailor, 
showing  both  candor  and  courage.  The  brow  is  fine  in 
shape,  compact  and  symmetrical,  differing  much  from 
the  high  dome  of  the  all-knowing  Franklin.  The  lips 
in  the  bust  are  very  beautiful,  symmetrically  revealing 
the  innately  aristocratic  personality,  finely  cut  and  very 
firm.  The  eyes  in  the  marble  do  not  reveal  the  blaze 
which  reflected  the  inner  fires.  The  portrait  by  Peale 
reproduces  this  trait,  mingled  with  a  strange  look  of 
wildness,  a  fawn-like  glance  of  inquiry,  youthful  and 
naive.  It  is  recorded  that  his  lips  could  assume  the 
curve  of  ironical  superiority,  but  that  their  smile  was  in- 
finitely engaging.  Various  witnesses  speak  of  his  grace 
and  ease  of  gesture.  His  face  was  stern  and  grave,  in- 
delibly marked  by  the  suffering  of  his  early  years,  and 
tanned  by  tropic  suns.  He  could  have  differed  little  at 
this  time  from  the  Paul  Jones  whom  John  Adams  met  in 


CHANGE  OF  NAME  71 

Europe  four  years  later,  and  whom,  as  an  officer  ap- 
pointed from  the  South,  the  stanch  New  England  par- 
tisan regarded  with  suspicion.  "This  is  the  most  in- 
triguing officer  in  the  American  navy,"  wrote  Adams. 
"Eccentricities  and  irregularities  are  expected  of  him, 
they  are  in  his  character,  they  are  visible  in  his  eyes. 
His  voice  is  soft  and  still  and  small.  His  eye  has  keen- 
ness and  wildness  and  softness  in  it."  Although  he  did 
not  fail  to  recognize  and  acknowledge  his  later  im- 
portance, Adams  never  understood  the  character  of 
Paul  Jones;  but  the  picture  thus  presented,  with  a  few 
strokes  of  a  remarkably  observant  and  vivid  pen,  fur- 
nishes a  unique  impression  of  Jones's  expression  and 
manner,  the  ringing  "vox  ferrea"  of  the  commander 
tuned  to  a  low  gentleness,  the  keenness  and  wildness  of 
the  eyes  of  genius,  uncontrollable  and  not  to  be  dis- 
guised. This  was  the  striking  personality  which  now 
emerged  from  nameless  obscurity  to  play  an  extraordi- 
nary r61e  in  the  fortunes  of  America.1 

1  Herman  Melville,  in  "Israel  Potter:  His  Fifty  Years  of  Exile," 
published  in  New  York  in  1855,  contributes  an  imaginative  picture  of 
Jones,  which  follows  the  prevailing  traditions  of  his  character  and  ap- 
pearance. "  He  was  a  rather  small,  elastic,  swarthy  man,  with  an  as- 
pect as  of  a  disinterested  Indian  Chief.  An  unvanquishable  enthusi- 
asm, intensified  to  perfect  sobriety,  couched  in  his  savage  self-possessed 
eye.  A  wonderful  atmosphere  of  proud  friendliness  and  scornful  isola- 
tion invested  him.  A  cool  solemnity  of  intrepidity  set  on  his  lip.  He 
looked  like  one  who  on  purpose  sought  out  harm's  way.  He  looked  like 
one  who  never  had  been  and  never  would  be  a  subordinate." 


CHAPTER  IV 

BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY 

Accobding  to  the  statements  of  all  of  Paul  Jones's 
early  biographers,  he  went,  "about  the  year  1773,  to 
Fredericksburg,  to  administer  upon  the  estate  of  his 
brother  William,  who  had  died  intestate,  and  without 
children."  In  a  note  in  the  "Life"  of  her  uncle  which 
she  caused  to  be  compiled  by  Robert  Sands,  Miss  Tay- 
lor states  that  "He  had  recovered,  as  I  know  from  the 
best  sources,  several  thousand  pounds  from  the  wreck 
of  his  brother's  fortune  in  Virginia." 

These  authoritative  statements  by  his  family  have 
lately  been  proved  to  be  entirely  incorrect.  William 
Paul  did  not  die  intestate,  for  his  will,  duly  recorded, 
has  been  found  in  the  court-house  of  Spottsylvania 
County,  Virginia,  where  Fredericksburg  is  situated. 
His  death  did  not  occur  in  1773,  as  all  these  biographers 
agree  in  stating,  but  in  the  following  year,  as  is  proved 
by  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone,  which  still  exists 
in  a  church-yard  in  Fredericksburg,  bearing  his  name 
and  the  year  of  his  death,  1774.  As  already  set  forth 
in  a  preceding  chapter,  it  is  clear  that  Paul  Jones  did 
not  seek  his  brother  in  Fredericksburg  when  he  first  took 
refuge  in  the  Southern  colonies,  for  fear  of  being  recog- 
nized, and  this  assumption  is  greatly  strengthened  by 
the  obvious  fact  that  this  brother,  whose  house  was  his 
home  in  earlier  days,  had  rendered  him  no  assistance 

72 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    73 

during  the  whole  period  of  "twenty  months"  in  which 
he  was  left  to  pine  in  penury  and  seclusion.  This 
period  is  easily  defined  as  that  which  intervened  be- 
tween June,  1773,  when  he  was  compelled  to  fly  from 
Tobago,  and  January,  1775,  when  he  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  meet  Willie  Jones. 

In  the  spring  of  1775,  when  his  apprehensions  of 
troublesome  consequences  from  the  occurrence  in  To- 
bago had  been  allayed  by  the  closing  of  the  ports  be- 
tween the  rebellious  colonies  and  the  West  Indian 
possessions  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  by  the  protec- 
tion afforded  him  through  the  open  and  authorized 
adoption  of  the  name  of  his  benefactors,  he  determined 
to  seek  his  brother,  and  journeyed  to  Fredericksburg 
for  that  purpose.  He  found  that  William  Paul  was 
dead,  and,  as  the  two  executors  appointed  under  his 
will  had  refused  to  act,  that  one  John  Atkinson  had 
been  appointed  administrator,  having  given  bond  in 
the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds.  The  present  clerk  of 
Spottsylvania  County,  at  the  request  of  a  late  investi- 
gator,1 has  stated  that  no  record  exists  in  his  office  of 
the  distribution  of  the  estate.  Miss  Taylor's  state- 
ment that  her  uncle  had  recovered  a  certain  amount 
from  the  "wreck"  of  William  Paul's  estate  might  indi- 
cate that  the  administrator  appointed  by  the  court 
made  an  unwise  or  improper  disposition  of  the  prop- 
erty, and  that  comparatively  little  was  left  for  Paul 
Jones  to  recover.2 

1  The  Reverend  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady. 

*  A  tablet  erected  in  the  year  1910  by  the  Betty  Washington  Lewis 
Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  upon  the  house  in  which 
William  Paul  resided  in  Fredericksburg,  bears  the  following  inscription: 


74  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  this  connection  it  is  singular  to  note  that  in  the 
letter  to  Franklin,  which  otherwise  partakes  largely  of 
the  nature  of  a  confession1  and  apology  for  the  obscure 
acts  of  his  life,  he  should  have  mentioned  the  sending  to 
his  family  of  remittances  arising  possibly  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  this  estate,  more  especially  as  further  reference 
in  the  same  letter  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  had 
done  everything  possible  for  them.  He  states  that  dur- 
ing the  time  when  he  still  felt  that  he  should  conceal  his 
whereabouts  from  his  family  in  Scotland  he  had  en- 
deavored to  watch  over  the  happiness  of  his  poor  rela- 
tions, unseen.     "For  that  purpose,"  he  wrote,  "I  sent 

"THIS  TABLET  MARKS  THE  ONLY  HOME  IN  AMERICA  OP  JOHN  PAUL 
JONES.  HE  WAS  APPOINTED  A  LIEUTENANT  IN  THE  CONTINEN- 
TAL NAVY  WHILE  STILL  A  RESIDENT  OP  VIRGINIA." 

A  communication  from  Fredericksburg  to  the  New  York  Sun  of  April 
11,  1911,  contains  a  letter  from  Francis  Brooke,  brother  of  Doctor  Law- 
rence, who  was  the  surgeon  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard : 

St.  Julien.  June  26,  1838. 
My  Dear  Sir. 

I  have  received  your  letter  from  Richmond.  All  I  remember  of  John 
Paul  Jones  I  heard  from  my  brother  Dr.  Brooke,  who  was  the  surgeon 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  the  whole  of  her  celebrated  cruize.  I  think 
Lremember  to  have  seen  him  when  very  young  in  1773.  I  was  at  school 
in  Fredericksburg  and  William  Paul  was  a  Scotch  tailor  who  made  my 
clothes.  On  his  death  John  came  to  Fredericksburg  to  administer  on 
his  property.  I  then  saw  him  in  the  shop  when  I  went  for  my  clothes. 
On  seeing  his  picture  years  after  I  remembered  this.  It  is  a  mistake 
that  his  brother  was  a  merchant.  I  do  not  think  he  remained  long  in 
Fredericksburg.  The  next  year,  I  think,  he  was  employed  in  the  navy. 
Yours  very  sincerely. 

Francis  T.  Brooke. 
Gen  William  Lambert.  Richmond. 

Mr.  Brooke's  recollection  of  dates  is  inaccurate.  Paul  Jones  could 
not  have  come  to  Fredericksburg  in  1773  to  administer  upon  his 
brother's  estate,  because  William  Paul  did  not  die  until  the  following 
year.  Mr.  Brooke  probably  followed  the  statements  contained  in  the 
early  biographies  of  Jones  as  to  the  date  of  his  visit  to  Fredericksburg. 

1  Letter  to  Franklin,  March  6,  1779.     Appendix  B. 


a  h 


w  - 
eg 

o 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    75 

them  various  little  remittances  (bills)  from  America,  in 
trust  to  a  very  worthy  friend,  Captain  Plaince,  of  Cork, 
to  be  applied  to  their  use  without  their  having  the  pain 
of  knowing  from  whence;  but  to  my  great  sorrow  I 
found  that  they  had  all  miscarried,  the  letters  that  con- 
tained them  having  been  sunk  and  the  rest  taken  on  the 
passage."  During  the  period  of  the  war  all  communica- 
tion was  so  slow  and  precarious  that  it  is  not  surprising 
that  he  was  entirely  uncertain  of  being  able  to  com- 
municate with  his  family  at  all,  and  that  he  himself  re- 
mained for  several  years  ignorant  of  their  condition  or 
whereabouts. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  for  some  time  after 
he  dared  to  appear  openly  under  his  new  name  in  Amer- 
ica he  feared  to  furnish  information  of  his  whereabouts 
to  any  but  his  trusted  agent  in  Great  Britain;  receiv- 
ing no  reply  from  Captain  Plaince  and  no  notice  that 
the  drafts  upon  his  account  had  been  presented,  he 
waited  until  the  spring  of  the  year  1777  before  he  again 
attempted,  through  another  agent,  to  send  money  to 
his  family.  Even  at  that  time  he  was  still  ignorant  as 
to  whether  his  mother  was  alive,  but  directed  the  whole 
amount  of  his  recovered  property  at  Tobago  to  be  ap- 
plied to  her  support  and  that  of  her  grandchildren,  an 
amount  at  least  equal  to  any  sums  that  may  have  been 
due  them  from  his  brother's  estate. 

Doctor  Read,  who  was  in  Jones's  confidence  during 
the  whole  period  of  his  residence  in  the  South,  and  with 
whom  he  was  in  close  communication  during  the  period 
when  he  was  occupied  in  settling  his  brother's  estate, 
has  supplied  an  important  indication  as  to  his  atti- 


76  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

tude  in  regard  to  the  obscure  question  of  his  dispo- 
sition of  this  property.  As  Doctor  Read's  letters  are 
the  sole  source  of  information  in  regard  to  this  time, 
and  as  he  was  an  entirely  respectable  and  credible  wit- 
ness, his  statements  should  be  regarded  with  confidence. 
Writing  in  the  year  1778,  and  recalling  the  time  when 
they  were  both  out  of  pocket,  he  complains  that  he  is 
still  "in  sour  misfortune's  books,"  but  congratulates 
Jones  upon  the  improvement  of  his  financial  condition, 
saying:  "You  once  more,  and  I  want  words  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  the  subject,  taste  the  pleasure  of  af- 
fluence, and  taste  it  with  the  feelings  that  do  not  ac- 
company the  generality  of  mankind,  a  nice  sentiment 
of  honor  and  the  sure  tho'  slow  reward  of  merit." 

Various  speculations  in  ship  supplies  and  real  estate, 
for  which  Jones  had  evinced  marked  aptitude,  were  the 
sources  of  this  improved  condition,  references  to  which 
we  find  in  letters  to  Robert  Smith  which  pertain  to  this 
period.  He  had  made  no  use  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
property  which  he  had  recovered  from  his  investments 
in  Tobago,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  he  sent  the  whole 
amount  of  this  to  his  family.  A  few  months  after  the 
writing  of  the  letter  in  which  he  directed  the  forward- 
ing of  these  sums,  at  the  moment  of  his  departure  from 
America  on  the  Ranger ,  in  the  autumn  of  1777,  he 
made  a  will  in  which  he  bequeathed  to  his  mother  and 
sisters  the  proceeds  of  his  later  investments,  represent- 
ing the  whole  amount  of  his  fortune. 

Doctor  Read  again  furnishes  very  interesting  infor- 
mation as  to  their  occupations  during  Jones's  visit  to 
him  in  Virginia,  which  immediately  followed  his  depart- 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    77 

ure  from  North  Carolina.  Read  lived  in  Goochland 
County,  which  lies  just  south  of  the  county  of  Spott- 
sylvania,  where  Fredericksburg  is  situated,  with  only 
Hanover  County  lying  between.  Thus  we  have  a  pict- 
ure of  Paul  Jones  riding  through  the  valleys  of  Virginia 
during  the  spring  of  1775,  having  presumably  finished 
his  business  in  Fredericksburg,  and  turning  southward 
to  join  the  friend  who  was  eagerly  awaiting  him.  With 
a  mind  quickened  by  new  enthusiasms,  and  a  person- 
ality which  always  attracted  affection  whenever  he 
cared  to  inspire  it,  the  young  Paul  Jones  was  now  as- 
sociated for  the  first  time  in  his  life  with  women  of 
birth  and  charm.  The  world  was  "at  the  spring"  for 
him,  and  in  the  South,  where  he  had  found  friends  and 
new  ambitions,  he  planned  and  talked  of  spending  the 
remainder  of  his  days. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  he  fixed  upon  "his  chosen 
scheme  of  life  in  the  country  of  his  fond  election/ '  and 
had  visions  of  that  "domestic  happiness,"  which  he 
relinquished,  as  he  often  protested,  "to  restore  peace 
to  mankind."  His  later  frequent  and  definite  references 
to  his  "prospect  of  domestic  happiness" *  indicate  that 
he  had  fallen  seriously  in  love  at  this  time  and  that  his 
affections  were  returned.  The  truth  of  this  assumption 
is  proved  by  a  statement,  made  in  the  biography  pub- 
lished in  Edinburgh  in  the  year  1830,  based  on  infor- 
mation and  documents  furnished  by  his  family,  that 
about  the  time  "when  he  entered  the  Navy,  Paul  Jones 
formed  an  ardent  attachment  for  an  American  lady. 
Their  affection  was  mutual,  but  circumstances  forbade 

1  Letter  to  Lady  Selkirk,  May  9,  1778. 


78  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

their  union,  and  from  this  time  he  formed  the  resolution 
of  never  marrying. "  In  a  letter  from  Doctor  Read,  who, 
as  has  been  seen,  was  Jones's  confidant  and  constant 
companion  during  his  sojourn  in  Virginia,  the  identity 
of  his  sweetheart  is  revealed  in  Read's  significant  con- 
clusion that  Jones  would  never  carry  out  his  intention 
of  settling  in  Virginia  in  view  of  the  lady's  marriage  to 
another.  It  is  somewhat  surprising  to  learn  that  she  was 
probably  the  brilliant  young  beauty,  Dorothea  Spotts- 
wood  Dandridge,  granddaughter  of  the  great  Governor 
Spottswood  and  own  cousin  of  Martha  Washington,  who 
afterward  became  the  bride  of  Patrick  Henry.  "You 
tell  me,"  Read  wrote,  "you  are  under  some  expectation 
of  purchasing  a  Virginia  estate,  but  some  more  agreeable 
idea  will  I  fear  call  you  off  and  deprive  us  of  you,  Miss 
Dandridge  is  no  more,  that  is,  she  a  few  months  ago 
gave  herself  into  the  arms  of  Patrick  Henry." 

This  young  lady  lived  in  her  father's  house  in  Han- 
over County,  near  "Mount  Brilliant,"  the  home  of 
Patrick  Henry's  father,  and  also  adjoining  "Scotch- 
town,"  a  large  mansion,  afterward  the  childhood  home 
of  Dolly  Madison,  where  Henry  was  at  that  time  living 
with  his  first  wife,  whom  he  had  married  at  the  early 
age  of  eighteen.  In  the  year  1778,  when  this  letter  of 
Doctor  Read  was  written,  Paul  Jones  had  been  for  three 
years  away  from  Virginia,  completely  absorbed  in  the 
thrilling  adventures  of  his  career  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  At  the  time  when  he  knew  Miss  Dandridge,  in 
1775,  she  was  a  girl  of  nineteen,  and  the  man  who  was 
to  be  her  husband  was  already  married,  twice  her  age, 
and  possessing  not  only  a  wife  but  a  family  of  six  chil- 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    79 

dren.  Whatever  the  circumstances  may  have  been 
which  forbade  her  union  with  Paul  Jones,  it  is  clearly- 
evident  from  the  reasons  later  assigned  by  him  that 
the  overpowering  motive  which  drew  him  away  from 
Virginia  was  the  desire  for  distinction,  to  which  the  in- 
terests of  his  heart  were  ever  subordinated.  He  was 
not  in  a  position  to  marry  at  this  time,  fame  and  fort- 
une were  still  to  win,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
the  aristocratic  family  of  his  sweetheart  looked  coldly 
upon  their  young  daughter's  love  for  the  attractive 
stranger  of  obscure  origin  who  had  appeared  in  their 
midst.  Thus  the  prospective  hero,  listening  to  war's 
alarms,  relinquished  the  "softer  affections  of  his  heart" 
and  dedicated  himself  to  the  cause  of  his  adopted  coun- 
try. He  became  an  enthusiastic  participant  in  the 
colloquies  of  excited  Virginians  who  met  at  Fredericks- 
burg, bringing  the  news  of  the  risings  and  demonstra- 
tions which  spread  throughout  the  surrounding  coun- 
ties. Double  relays  of  couriers  brought  the  news 
from  the  other  rebellious  colonies,  and  the  militia  were 
assembling  at  town-halls  and  churches  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other.  Hand-bills  and  memorials 
were  posted  at  every  convenient  spot,  and  in  March  of 
this  year  Patrick  Henry  made  his  daring  and  immortal 
speech  demanding  "liberty  or  death." 

Jones  met  both  Henry  and  Jefferson  at  this  time, 
through  Read's  introduction,  and  their  mutual  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Dandridges,  at  whose  house  in 
Hanover  County  both  Henry  and  Jefferson  were  con- 
stant visitors.1 

1  Letters  from  Read  to  Jones  belonging  to  this  period  contain  mes- 
sages to  Jefferson. 


80  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  May  a  new  session  of  Congress  was  assembled  in 
Philadelphia,  and  Paul  Jones  made  haste  to  follow  his 
friend  Hewes  to  the  seat  of  government.  He  was  now 
at  the  very  door  of  Congress,  awaiting  with  impatience 
the  formation  of  the  navy,  which  by  the  middle  of  the 
summer  was  being  considered  by  the  members  of  that 
body.  It  was  small  wonder  that  he  forgot  his  dream  of 
happiness  and  that  the  memory  of  his  Virginia  sweet- 
heart faded  from  his  mind;  for  the  Revolution  was  now 
fairly  under  way,  and  the  idea  of  independence  was 
openly  discussed  and  contemplated. 

Five  months  had  passed  since  Lexington,  but  three 
since  Bunker  Hill;  Falmouth  had  already  been  ruth- 
lessly destroyed  by  British  ships,  and  indignation  was 
at  white-heat.  Washington  had  but  lately  assumed 
command  of  the  army,  and  the  time  was  at  hand  for 
the  formation  of  a  fleet.  Paul  Jones,  enjoying  an  in- 
timate and  daily  association  with  his  powerful  friend 
Joseph  Hewes,  had  not  long  to  wait  for  the  oppor- 
tunity for  distinction  which  he  so  ardently  desired. 
The  first  naval  committee  was  appointed  as  the  result 
of  the  desire  of  Congress  to  intercept  the  transports 
laden  with  military  stores  for  the  British  army.  Con- 
siderable discussion  had  already  taken  place  in  regard  to 
the  advisability  of  providing  a  force  for  this  purpose 
at  government  expense. 

On  the  receipt  of  the  news  that  two  transports,  en- 
tirely unarmed  and  richly  laden  with  military  supplies, 
were  en  route  from  Quebec,  Congress  on  October  5  pro- 
ceeded to  a  serious  consideration  of  the  question,  and 
after  long  and  heated  discussion  a  small  committee, 
consisting  of  Silas  Deane,  of  Connecticut,  John  Lang- 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    81 

don,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Christopher  Gadsden, 
of  South  Carolina,  was  appointed  to  look  into  the 
matter  without  delay.  The  necessity  of  haste  being 
obvious,  the  committee  reported  on  the  same  day,  with 
the  result  that  Washington  was  requested  to  bor- 
row two  of  the  cruisers  belonging  to  the  State  of 
Massachusetts.  Two  days  before  the  appointment 
of  this  committee  the  delegates  from  Rhode  Island, 
in  accordance  with  instructions  issued  in  August  by 
the  assembly  of  that  Colony,  recommended  a  much 
broader  action:  the  formation  of  a  fleet  for  national 
defence.  On  the  7th  of  October  the  resolution  was 
discussed,  and,  although  it  was  decided  to  postpone 
definite  action  until  the  16th,  the  question  of  purchas- 
ing ships  at  government  expense  was  now  fairly  before 
the  members.  The  debate  was  conducted  by  the  ven- 
erable Stephen  Hopkins,  long  governor  of  Rhode  Is- 
land, Silas  Deane,  afterward  American  commissioner 
to  France,  John  Rutledge,  Gadsden,  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Zobly,  of  Georgia,  and  John  Adams,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  whole  day  was  given  up  to  the  dis- 
cussion, and  it  is  evident,  from  the  length  of  time 
which  it  consumed,  that  it  deserved  the  description  of 
the  usual  Congressional  debates  as  written  by  Adams  in 
a  letter  to  his  wife : 

There  is  in  Congress  a  collection  of  the  greatest  men 
upon  this  continent,  in  point  of  abilities,  virtue  and 
fortune.  Every  man  in  it  is  a  great  man,  an  orator, 
a  critic  and  a  statesman  and  therefore  every  man  upon 
every  question  must  show  his  oratory,  his  criticism  and 
his  political  abilities. 


82  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  Rhode  Island  proposition  met  with  the  strongest 
opposition,  some  of  the  members  declaring  it  "the 
maddest  idea  in  the  world"  and  insisting  that  the  build- 
ing of  a  navy  would  "mortgage  the  whole  continent." 
But  Adams,  plying  as  usual  the  laboring  oar,  sustained 
the  action  for  hours  against  "time  and  tide,"  with  the 
result  that  the  decision  of  merely  borrowing  ships  from 
Massachusetts  was  altered  to  a  resolution  of  instruc- 
tions to  the  committee  to  look  into  the  matter  of  the 
purchase  of  war-ships  for  the  government.  Following 
the  committee's  report,  Congress,  on  the  13th,  passed 
a  resolution  to  order  the  immediate  purchase  of  two 
swift  sailing-vessels,  one  of  ten  and  the  other  of  fourteen 
guns,  to  cruise  to  the  eastward  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
cepting the  English  forces  in  Boston.  With  the  pass- 
ing of  this  resolution  the  American  navy  was  founded. 
The  Lexington  and  Reprisal  were  immediately  pur- 
chased and  the  process  of  their  equipment  begun.  On 
the  30th  of  October  the  original  committee  of  three  was 
increased  to  seven,  including  John  Adams,  Stephen 
Hopkins,  Joseph  Hewes,  and  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and, 
two  large  ships  of  thirty-six  and  twenty  guns  having 
been  ordered,  the  Alfred  and  the  Columbus  were  added 
to  the  infant  fleet.  On  the  13th  of  December  Con- 
gress ordered  thirteen  ships  of  war,  and  followed  this 
action  by  increasing  the  naval  committee  again,  so  as 
to  contain  a  member  for  each  colony.  A  few  days 
more  of  this  active  deliberation  culminated  in  the 
formal  appointment  of  a  commander-in-chief  of  the  new 
navy,  four  captains,  and  a  list  of  first,  second,  and  third 
lieutenants. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    83 

Before  this  formal  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  as 
a  body,  Washington,  by  virtue  of  his  authority  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  had  issued  several 
commissions  to  small  ships,  giving  their  commanders 
instructions  to  cruise  about  Massachusetts  Bay  in  order 
to  intercept  British  transports.  Captain  John  Manly, 
commanding  the  Lee,  was  the  first  to  sail  under  an  order 
of  this  kind  from  Washington,  and  during  a  period  of 
six  weeks,  beginning  with  the  end  of  November,  1775, 
he  succeeded  in  capturing  four  of  these  provision  ships 
and  in  getting  his  prizes  safely  into  port. 

The  colonial  assembly  of  Massachusetts  in  Novem- 
ber of  this  year  considered  itself  empowered  to  pass  a 
law  granting  commissions  to  armed  vessels,  with  orders 
for  the  seizure  of  British  ships. 

A  great  deal  of  discussion  has  taken  place  in  regard 
to  the  rival  claims  of  Barry  and  Manly  to  the  title 
of  "Father  of  the  American  Navy."  If  such  a  title 
belongs  to  a  commander  by  the  original  choice  and 
authority  of  Washington,  that  honor  falls  to  Captain 
Manly,  of  the  Lee.  His  appointment  was  confirmed 
by  Congress,  and  had  an  authentic  but  what  might  be 
termed  a  semi-official  character.  John  Barry,  return- 
ing from  British  waters  with  the  Black  Prince  on  Octo- 
ber 13,  the  very  day  on  which  Congress  passed  its  first 
resolution  for  the  founding  of  the  American  navy,  was 
put  in  command  of  the  Lexington,  the  first  ship  bought 
and  equipped  under  this  law.  This  vessel  was  not  only 
the  first  ship  which  was  purchased  by  full  Congressional 
authority,  but  it  was  actually  the  first  which  sailed 
under  government  orders.    Barry's  appointment,  on 


84  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

December  7,  was  prior  to  the  resolution  by  which  a  com- 
mander-in-chief and  other  officers  of  the  navy  were  or- 
dered by  Congress,  but  it  was  a  bona  fide  Congressional 
appointment  none  the  less,  and  this  fact  would  seem 
undoubtedly  to  give  to  him  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
commander  in  the  United  States  navy.1  The  list  of 
commissions,  including  commander-in-chief,  captains, 
and  lieutenants  of  the  American  fleet,  which  was  issued 
by  Congress  on  December  the  22d  includes  none  for 
Captain  Barry,  who  was  already  at  sea  under  his  ap- 
pointment by  the  earlier  resolution  of  October  13.  It 
was  not  until  eighteen  months  later,  on  September  26, 
1776,  that  Hancock  gave  Barry  his  regular  commis- 
sion in  written  form,  as  captain  of  his  ship,  the  Lexing- 
ton, but  he  actually  sailed,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of 
October  the  13th,  in  the  early  part  of  February,  1776, 
two  weeks  before  the  fleet  under  Hopkins  left  the  Dela- 
ware. 

The  management  of  the  infant  navy  was  chaotic  in 
the  extreme,  one  committee  following  another  in  quick 
succession.  No  regular  rank  was  established  at  this 
early  period.  Congress  itself  had  an  uncertain  title  to 
government  authority  until  after  the  Declaration  of 

1 A  characteristic  comment  of  John  Adams  shows  that  he  denied  that 
the  fleet  under  Hopkins  was  the  first  regularly  appointed  American 
maritime  force.  The  pretensions  of  both  Jones  and  Barry  were  based 
on  this  assumption. 

"Vanity  is  one  of  the  diseases  of  the  mind.  You  and  all  the  world 
know  to  what  a  scandalous  degree  I  have  been  infected  with  it  all  the 
days  of  my  life.  Jones  and  Barry  were  leprous  with  it  when  the  first 
said  'My  hand  first  hoisted  the  American  flag,'  and  the  last  was  not 
less  distempered  with  it  when  he  said  'the  British  Naval  Flag  first 
struck  to  me.'  Both  were  true  only  in  the  mouth  of  John  Manly,  whose 
prizes  were  of  more  importance  to  this  country  than  all  that  Jones 
and  Barry  both  performed." — (Adams  to  Dr.  Rush,  1809.) 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    85 

Independence;  and  the  confusion  in  rank  and  priority 
incident  upon  its  rapidly  succeeding  and  changing  reso- 
lutions gave  rise  to  endless  troubles  and  heart-burnings 
among  the  newly  appointed  officers.  The  lion's  share 
of  the  appointments  in  the  first  list  of  officers  fell  to 
New  England.  Stephen  Hopkins,  representing  Rhode 
Island,  which  had  initiated  the  movement  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  fleet,  was  a  man  of  eminent  abilities, 
and  the  most  influential  and  respected  man  in  the  State. 
He  was  a  warm  friend  of  John  Adams,  who  so  earnest- 
ly advocated  the  adoption  of  the  navy  resolution.  It 
is  Adams  again  who  has  left  the  most  illuminating  and 
graphic  account  of  the  sessions  of  the  naval  committee, 
which  took  place  in  a  room  reserved  in  a  public-house 
in  Philadelphia,  lasting  after  six  in  the  evening  until  the 
close  of  its  business. 

The  pleasantest  part  of  the  labors  of  the  four  years 
I  spent  in  Congress  from  1774  to  1778,  was  in  the  Com- 
mittee on  Naval  affairs.  Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Gadsden 
were  sensible  men  and  very  cheerful,  but  Governor 
Hopkins  of  Rhode  Island,  above  seventy  years  of  age, 
kept  us  all  alive.  Upon  business  his  experience  and 
judgment  was  very  useful;  but  when  the  business  of 
the  evening  was  over  he  kept  us  in  conversation  until 
eleven  and  sometimes  twelve  o'clock.  His  custom  was 
to  drink  nothing  all  day  until  eight  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing; then  his  beverage  was  Jamaica  spirits  and  water. 
He  had  read  Greek,  Roman  and  British  history,  and  was 
familiar  with  English  poetry,  particularly  Pope,  Thomp- 
son, and  Milton,  and  the  flow  of  his  soul  made  all  of 
his  readings  our  own,  and  seemed  to  bring  in  recollec- 
tion to  all  of  us,  all  we  had  ever  read.  Hopkins  never 
drank  to  excess;  but  all  he  drank  was  immediately  not 


86  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

only  converted  into  wit  and  knowledge,  but  inspired 
us  all  with  similar  qualities.1 

The  picture  of  our  great  forefathers  in  their  hours  of 
ease  relaxing  into  a  high  enthusiasm  inspired  by  Mil- 
ton, Thompson,  and  Jamaica  rum  may  cause  a  smile; 
but  a  glance  at  the  list  of  officers  of  the  new  navy  proves 
that  favors  and  places  were  procured  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  obtains  to-day: 

Ezek  Hopkins,  commander-in-chief. 

Dudley  Saltonstall,  captain  of  the  flag-ship  Alfred. 

Abraham  Whipple,  captain  of  the  Columbus. 

Nicholas  Biddle,  captain  of  the  Andrea  Doria. 

John  B.  Hopkins,  captain  of  the  Cabot. 

First  Lieutenants:  John  Paul  Jones,  Rhodes  Arnold, 

Stansbury,  Hoysted  Hacker,  and  Jonathan  Pitcher. 
Second  Lieutenants:  Benjamin  Seabury,  Joseph  Olney, 

Elisha  Warner,  Thos.  Weaver,  and  McDougal. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Stephen  Hopkins's  influence  ob- 
tained for  his  brother  Ezek  the  position  of  commander- 
in-chief,  as  well  as  the  captaincy  of  the  Columbus  for  his 
relation,  Abraham  Whipple,  and  that  of  the  Cabot  for 
Ezek  Hopkins's  son.  Dudley  Saltonstall,  a  relation  of 
Adams,  was  appointed  captain  of  the  flag-ship  Alfred, 
while  the  command  of  the  remaining  ship  was  given  to 
the  brave  and  ill-fated  Nicholas  Biddle,  the  chosen  rep- 
resentative of  the  wealth  and  social  influence  of  Phila- 
delphia, 

Although  Joseph  Hewes  was  not  a  member  of  the 
first  naval  committee  appointed  by  Congress  on  the 

1  Diary  of  John  Adams. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    87 

5th  of  October,  his  name  was  added  later,  upon  the  en- 
largement of  that  committee  on  the  30th,  by  reason  of 
his  well-known  business  ability  and  his  experience  as  a 
ship-owner,  and  he  was  soon  invested  with  the  entire 
charge  of  the  equipment  of  the  fleet  ordered  by  Con- 
gress. He  performed  the  enormous  labors  thus  im- 
posed upon  him  with  tireless  zeal,  working  with  no  stop 
for  food  or  drink  from  early  morning  until  late  at  night. 
He  sometimes  found  it  necessary  to  advance  money  out 
of  his  private  fortune  for  the  needy  government,  and 
always  labored  with  unsparing  forgetfulness  of  health 
and  private  interest  for  the  cause  of  his  country. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  alone  was  intrusted  with 
the  practical  work  of  organizing  the  fleet,  he  could  com- 
mand but  one  appointment,  and  this  he  promptly  gave 
to  Paul  Jones,  who  was  afterward  known  during  the 
whole  of  the  Revolution  as  "the  North  Carolina  Cap- 
tain." Time  was  to  prove  the  wisdom  of  Hewes's 
choice  of  a  naval  officer  and  to  ventilate  the  unfitness 
of  family  appointments.  The  fact  that  Jones  owed  his 
appointment  in  the  navy  to  Hewes  is  proved  by  various 
statements  in  Jones's  later  letters.  In  a  letter  of  May 
the  22d,  1777,  at  the  time  when  he  had  just  been  given 
the  command  of  the  Ranger,  he  clearly  acknowledges 
his  obligations  to  his  friend:  "The  great  individual 
obligation  I  owe,  makes  it  more  than  ever  my  duty  to 
keep  you  informed  of  my  movements.  I  need  not  assure 
you  that  this  is  a  welcome  duty,  for  the  reason  that  I 
know  there  is  no  person  living  to  whom  news  of  my 
success  can  bring  more  satisfaction  than  to  yourself, 
and  you  are  surely  entitled  to  such  a  satisfaction  because 


88  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

you  more  than  any  other  person  have  labored  to  place 
the  instruments  of  success  in  my  hands.,, 

A  few  months  later,  on  November  7, 1777,  he  wrote: 
"Of  one  thing  in  spite  of  all  you  may  definitely  assure 
yourself,  and  that  is  that  I  will  not  accept  of  any  com- 
mand or  enter  into  any  arrangement  that  can  bring 
in  question  or  put  out  of  sight  the  regular  rank  I  hold 
in  the  United  States  Navy,  for  which  I  now  as  always 
acknowledge  my  debt  to  you  more  than  to  any  other 
person." 

The  attitude  which  Paul  Jones  maintained  toward 
this  singularly  sincere  and  benignant  man  reveals  the 
most  delightful  side  of  his  nature.  With  a  gratitude 
only  equalled  by  his  trust  and  affection  he  reported  to 
him,  as  to  the  author  of  his  destiny,  the  fullest  and  most 
minute  account  of  his  actions,  and  the  frankest  expres- 
sion of  his  thoughts,  from  the  outset  of  his  service  in 
the  American  navy.  His  feeling  of  obligation  is  some- 
times fairly  overflowing,  as  when  he  says:  "I  unbosom 
myself  to  you  with  the  utmost  confidence;  for  you 
have  laid  me  under  the  most  singular  obligations,  and 
you  are  indeed  the  angel  of  my  happiness,  since  to  your 
friendship  I  owe  my  present  enjoyment  as  well  as  my 
future  prospects."  Or  again,  when  he  earnestly  repre- 
sents the  necessity  of  certain  improvements  in  the  new 
and  ill-regulated  service  in  which  Hewes  had  placed 
him,  and  gives  eloquent  expression  to  his  high  sense  of 
the  importance  of  his  patron's  position  and  personal 
character,  and  the  warmth  of  their  mutual  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  America :  "When  I  address  my 
sentiments  to  you  with  this  freedom,  I  consider  you  not 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    89 

as  a  Member  of  the  grand  State  Council  of  a  rising 
Empire,  but  as  a  private  Gentleman  of  disinterested 
candour  and  penetration,  a  Free  citizen  of  the  world, 
governed  by  the  Noblest  of  principles,  the  good  of  man- 
kind, and  since  Liberty  hath  chosen  America  as  her 
last  asylum,  every  effort  to  protect  and  cherish  her  is 
noble,  and  will  be  rewarded  with  the  thanks  of  future 
ages."1 

Jones  received  his  appointment  on  December  the 
7th,  and  was  assigned  the  place  of  first  lieutenant  on 
the  list  adopted  by  Congress  on  December  the  22d. 
As  appears  by  a  letter  to  his  friend  Hewes,  written  after 
the  first  cruise  of  the  fleet,  he  had  been  offered  the 
command  of  the  sloop  Providence,  and  afterward  of  the 
tiny  ship  Fly,  but  refused  them  both.  He  showed  a 
most  commendable  modesty  at  this  time  in  regard  to 
his  abilities,  preferring  a  post  as  lieutenant  on  the  Al- 
fred, not  only  on  account  of  the  greater  opportunities 
for  action  which  he  believed  he  would  be  likely  to  en- 
counter on  board  the  flag-ship,  but  also,  as  he  professed, 
because  he  had  hopes  of  gaining  much  useful  knowledge 
from  men  of  more  experience  than  himself.  He  states 
elsewhere,  with  becoming  frankness,  that  he  found  him- 
self "imperfect  in  the  duties  of  a  Lieutenant."  Very 
few  weeks  were  to  pass,  however,  before  Jones  himself 
realized  that  he  had  nothing  to  learn  from  his  fellow- 
officers,  and  that  he  was  head  and  shoulders  above 
them  in  seamanship  and  in  every  quality  which  should 
characterize  a  commander. 

On  December  23,  the  day  following  the  issue  of  the 

1  Letter  to  Hewes,  October  31,  1776. 


90  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

list  of  navy  appointments,  Stephen  Hopkins  wrote  an 
affectionate  letter  to  his  brother  Ezek,  who  was  at  that 
time  brigadier-general,  commanding  the  American  sol- 
diers at  Newport,  and  informed  him  of  the  action  of 
Congress.  The  new  commander-in-chief  thereupon  re- 
paired to  Philadelphia  and  found  his  flag-ship  entirely 
ready  to  sail.  In  the  absence  of  Captain  Saltonstall, 
who  was  still  in  Boston,  the  Alfred  had  been  armed 
and  manned  by  Jones.  Commander-in-Chief  Hopkins 
promised  to  make  Jones  captain  in  recognition  of 
these  services,  but  a  day  or  two  before  the  squadron 
sailed  from  Philadelphia  Saltonstall  appeared  and  took 
command. 

On  a  day  in  January,  unnoted  in  any  record,  except 
as  to  the  character  of  the  weather,  which  was  said  to 
have  been  clear  and  cold,  the  commander-in-chief  went 
for  the  first  time  on  board  the  Alfred,  moored  in  the 
Delaware.  Shortly  before  nine  o'clock  a  barge  put  off 
from  the  Alfred  and  was  rowed  to  the  ship  at  the  foot 
of  Walnut  Street,  when,  without  any  delay,  Hopkins 
stepped  on  board,  and  the  barge  returned,  bringing 
him  through  the  floating  ice  to  the  flag-ship.  Eight 
ships  of  the  new  fleet  lay  at  anchor  side  by  side.  All 
Philadelphia  was  awake  and  aware  of  the  importance 
of  the  occasion,  and  at  an  early  hour  of  the  gray  winter 
day  the  patriotic  inhabitants  were  assembled  in  crowds 
upon  the  shore  and  wharves,  while  the  shipping  in  the 
river  was  gayly  decorated  in  honor  of  the  occasion. 
As  Hopkins  gained  the  deck,  Captain  Saltonstall  gave 
a  signal,  and  John  Paul  Jones  hoisted  with  his  own  hand 
the  first  flag  which  ever  floated  over  an  American  ship 


Commodore  Ezek  Hopkins. 
From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    91 

of  war.  With  this  act  the  American  navy  began  its 
existence,  and  Paul  Jones's  association  with  it  remained 
a  pride  to  his  glory-loving  heart  until  the  latest  day 
of  his  life.  This  flag  was  not  the  stars  and  stripes, 
but  was  a  curious  banner  made  of  yellow  silk,  bearing 
a  lively  representation  of  a  rattlesnake  and  the  motto 
"Don't  tread  on  me."1  A  flag  of  this  description  was 
presented  by  Gadsden  to  Congress  on  February  8,  a 
few  weeks  after  the  banner  of  the  colonies  was  unfurled 

1 1.  "On  the  3d  instant  the  Continental  flag  on  board  the  Black  Prince 
(Alfred)  opposite  Philadelphia  was  hoisted." — ("Am.  Archives,"  ser.  IV, 
vol.  IV,  pp.  358-360.  Letter  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  from  "  a  minister 
of  the  King  of  Kings,"  "B.  P.,"  dated  December  20,  1775.) 

2.  January  2,  1776,  the  "Union  Flag"  was  hoisted  on  Prospect  Hill, 
Cambridge. — ("Am.  Archives,"  ser.  IV,  vol.  IV,  p.  570.) 

3.  January  14,  1776,  Hopkins  arrived  at  Philadelphia  and  took  com- 
mand of  the  fleet.  "As  Hopkins  gained  the  deck  (Alfred)  Captain 
Dudley  Saltonstall  gave  the  signal  and  First  Lieutenant  John  Paul  Jones 
hoisted  a  yellow  silk  flag  bearing  a  lively  representation  of  a  rattlesnake 
and  the  motto  '  Don't  tread  on  me.'  "—(Preble,  " Origin,  etc.,  Flag  U.S."; 
Field,  "Life  of  Esek  Hopkins.") 

4.  February  8,  1776,  Christopher  Gadsden,  member  of  the  marine 
committee,  presented  to  Congress  a  flag  like  the  one  described  in  No.  3, 
"an  elegant  standard  such  as  is  to  be  used  by  the  commander-in-chief 
in  the  American  Navy." — (Preble,  "Origin  Flag,  etc.";  Field,  "Life  of 
Esek  Hopkins.") 

5.  February  9,  1776,  the  "First  American  fleet  that  ever  swelled  their 
sails  on  the  Western  Ocean  .  .  .  sailed  from  Philadelphia  (as  far  as 
Capes  of  the  Delaware)  under  the  display  of  a  Union  Flag  with  13 
stripes  in  the  field,  emblematic  of  the  13  colonies." — ("Am.  Archives," 
ser.  IV,  vol.  IV,  p.  964.) 

6.  February  17,  1776,  the  fleet  got  out  to  sea. 

Inference  may  be  drawn  from  these  statements  that  the  "yellow  silk 
flag,"  said  to  have  been  first  hoisted,  was  the  special  "standard"  of 
Hopkins  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  navy.  And  the  fleet  sailed  on 
its  expedition  under  the  national  ensign  then  used,  the  Union  flag. 

This  was  the  flag  which  an  English  writer  of  the  period  refers  to  in 
the  following  words:  "A  strange  flag  lately  appeared  in  our  seas  bear- 
ing a  pine  tree  with  the  portraiture  of  a  rattle  snake  coiled  up  at  its  root, 
with  the  daring  words  ' Don't  tread  on  me.'  We  learned  that  the  ves- 
sels bearing  this  flag  have  a  sort  of  commission  from  a  society  of  people 
in  Philadelphia,  calling  themselves  the  'Continental  Congress'!" 


92  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

at  the  mast-head  of  the  flag-ship,  in  memory  of  this 
occasion.  It  hung  for  some  time  over  the  President's 
chair. 

Commander-in-Chief  Hopkins  began  his  brief  and 
inglorious  career  by  losing  so  much  time  in  delays  that 
his  fleet  was  caught  by  the  ice  in  the  Delaware  and 
prevented  from  sailing  until  February  the  17th.  Al- 
though directed  by  Congress  to  proceed  southward  to 
attack  the  fleet  of  Lord  Dunmore,  which  had  been  de- 
stroying towns  and  estates  in  Virginia,  Hopkins,  who 
was  also  authorized  by  the  last  article  in  his  orders 
to  use  his  own  judgment  in  regard  to  the  direction  of 
his  cruises,  prudently  availed  himself  of  this  privilege, 
and  instead  of  attacking  the  powerful  fleet  of  Dunmore, 
steered  his  course  toward  the  Bahamas.  The  squadron 
anchored  at  Abaco,  with  two  captured  sloops  from  New 
Providence  in  tow,  from  whom  Hopkins  learned  that 
the  forts  of  the  island  were  very  insufficiently  guarded, 
and  that  they  also  contained  a  large  store  of  munitions 
of  war.  Hopkins  thereupon  determined  to  make  an 
attack  for  the  purpose  of  securing  these  stores.  This 
was  in  itself  an  object  of  the  greatest  importance,  for 
the  colonial  government  was  wellnigh  destitute  of 
powder;  but  the  inexperience  of  the  commander  ren- 
dered the  expedition  only  partially  successful.  In- 
stead of  approaching  the  island  by  stealth  and  under 
cover  of  night,  the  whole  squadron  sailed  boldly  up 
in  broad  day  and  within  full  sight  of  the  forts,  giving 
ample  time  and  warning  to  the  British  governor,  who, 
immediately  recognizing  the  object  of  the  attack,  got 
the  larger  portion  of  the  powder  on  board  a  couple 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    93 

of  ships  and  sent  them  out  of  danger  during  the 
night. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  note  the  initiative,  superior 
intelligence,  and  courage  shown  by  Paul  Jones  in  this 
the  earliest  moment  of  his  service  in  the  American  navy. 
Instantly  recognizing  the  grave  mistake  made  by  the 
commander-in-chief,  he  was  ready  with  a  plan  to  re- 
trieve it.  Hopkins  proposed  to  land  the  marines  on 
the  western  coast  of  the  island  and  from  thence  march 
directly  upon  the  town.  Jones,  who  was  fortunately 
consulted,  pointed  out  that  no  road  led  from  this  part 
of  the  island,  and  that  the  necessarily  slow  progress 
of  the  marines  would  be  communicated  to  the  inhabi- 
tants, who  would  thus  have  time  to  collect  and  organ- 
ize a  defence.  He  also  pointed  out  that  no  harbor 
existed  on  this  shore  in  which  the  ships  of  the  squad- 
ron could  be  anchored.  Knowing  every  island  in  the 
West  Indies,  he  informed  Hopkins  that  there  was  a 
key  three  leagues  to  windward  where  the  ships  could 
lie  in  safety,  and  advised  that  the  marines  should  be 
despatched  by  the  road  which  covered  the  short  dis- 
tance between  the  eastern  shore  and  the  town.  Two 
pilots  had  been  taken  aboard  from  the  captured  sloops, 
and  Jones  had  completed  a  plan  with  them  by  which 
the  ships  could  be  safely  got  into  the  key.  Hopkins 
was  afraid,  as  he  never  failed  to  be,  on  this  and  every 
other  occasion,  and  refused  to  trust  the  ships  to  the 
pilots.  Jones  thereupon  volunteered  to  take  them  in 
himself.  Going  with  the  pilot  to  the  mast-head  of  the 
Alfred,  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  vessels  safe  into 
their  anchorage.    Here  was  the  first  taste  of  Jones's 


94  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

quality;  first  to  see  an  opportunity,  first  to  avail  him- 
self of  it.  This  picture  of  him  at  the  mast-head  of  the 
ship  might  serve  as  a  symbol  and  forecast  of  his  whole 
career. 

The  scheme  as  he  planned  it  was  successful  from 
the  moment  it  was  put  under  his  charge.  The  marines 
were  immediately  sent  in  by  the  eastern  passage  in  a 
couple  of  coal  schooners,  under  the  command  of  Cap- 
tain Nichols,  and,  landing  without  opposition  about 
four  miles  from  Fort  Montague,  marched  upon  the 
town  of  Nassau  and  captured  both  the  fort  and  the 
town  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  Although  the  British 
governor  had  managed  to  spirit  away  the  powder  dur- 
ing the  night,  the  American  squadron,  sailing  into  New 
Providence  harbor  in  early  morning,  took  possession 
of  one  hundred  cannon  and  other  valuable  stores,  and 
a  few  days  later,  on  the  17th  of  March,  sailed  out  of 
the  harbor,  carrying  as  hostages  Governor  Brown  him- 
self and  two  other  English  officers. 

The  measure  of  success  which  was  attained  in  this 
first  exploit  of  the  new  fleet  was  clearly  due  to  Paul 
Jones,  and  this  was  absolutely  everything  which  was 
accomplished  during  this  first  cruise  under  Hopkins, 
the  only  success  ever  achieved  under  his  command. 
On  the  5th  of  April,  a  fortnight  after  the  fleet  left  New 
Providence,  it  fell  in  with  the  British  man-of-war  Glas- 
gow, and  in  spite  of  the  great  numerical  superiority  of 
the  American  squadron  the  single  ship  of  the  enemy, 
ably  commanded  by  Captain  Tyringham  Howe,  in- 
flicted more  damage  than  she  received  and  got  away. 
This  action  showed  the  inefficiency  of  the  war-ships 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    95 

which  composed  the  first  American  fleet;  they  were,  in 
fact,  only  merchant-ships  hurriedly  transformed  and 
equipped,  but  it  showed  more  clearly  the  inadequacy 
of  the  commander-in-chief  and  the  inexperience  of  the 
officers.  It  brought  about  a  full  crop  of  courts-martial 
and  a  salutary  winnowing  of  the  wheat  from  the  chaff 
in  the  matter  of  commanding  officers.  On  this  occa- 
sion Jones  commanded  the  lower  battery  of  the  Alfred 
and  performed  his  duty  bravely  and  efficiently.  If  he 
had  been  on  the  quarter-deck,  the  present  station  of 
the  first  lieutenant,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that 
the  Glasgow  would  have  been  captured. 

The  character  of  the  commanding  officer  of  the  new 
fleet  differed,  unfortunately,  very  widely  from  the  dis- 
tinguished brother  to  whom  he  owed  his  appointment. 
Ezek  Hopkins  had  been  a  commander  of  trading-ships 
for  thirty  years  and  had  had  some  experience  in  the 
French  war.  He  was  prominent  and  respected  in  the 
affairs  of  Rhode  Island  and  in  Providence,  and  was  by 
no  means  an  unpromising  appointment  for  the  posi- 
tion; but  he  had  grown  old  in  the  merchant  service 
and  was  irascible,  obstinate,  and  utterly  inexperienced 
in  the  kind  of  warfare  in  which  he  was  now  engaged. 
The  difficulties  of  the  task  imposed  upon  him  were 
overwhelming,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  labored 
earnestly  and  at  times  desperately  to  overcome  them. 
Unusual  ability,  the  resourcefulness  of  a  Washington  or 
a  Greene,  the  genius  which  would  make  bricks  with- 
out straw  were  necessary  for  the  men  who  were  to 
lead  America's  chaotic  forces  in  this  day  of  beginnings. 
Ezek  Hopkins  was  not  an  unusual  man,  and  he  failed. 


96  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

His  was  one  of  those  singular  characters  which  unite 
obstinacy  with  weakness,  and  presented  not  the  only 
instance  in  which  obstinacy  masqueraded  as  strength 
and  weakness  passed  for  prudence. 

By  the  11th  of  April  the  fleet  had  returned  to  North- 
ern waters  and  lay  moored  at  New  London.  General 
Knox,  visiting  the  commander-in-chief  on  board  the 
Alfred  at  this  time,  wrote  his  impression  of  his  per- 
sonality to  his  wife:  "The  Admiral  is  an  antiquated 
figure.  He  brought  to  my  mind  Van  Tromp,  the  fa- 
mous Dutch  Admiral.  Although  antiquated  in  figure, 
he  is  shrewd  and  sensible,  and  I,  who  you  think  only  a 
little  enthusiastic,  should  have  taken  him  for  an  angel, 
only  he  swore  now  and  then." 

No  man  was  more  honorable  in  intention  than  this 
antiquated  captain  of  trading-ships;  but  his  limita- 
tions in  ability  and  experience  were  soon  to  be  merci- 
lessly exposed  and  most  severely  punished.  It  took 
Jones  some  time  to  judge  the  character  of  the  man  who 
was  his  chief,  and  while  in  his  first  letter  to  Hewes  he 
expressed  himself  very  freely  about  Captain  Salton- 
stall,  his  references  to  Hopkins  are  loyal,  and  indi- 
cate that  at  this  time  at  least  he  was  respected  by  his 
men. 

From  the  outset  of  his  naval  career  it  was  Jones's 
custom  to  send  a  detailed  account  of  his  doings  to 
Hewes;  this  he  considered  as  a  duty  to  the  man  who 
had  given  him  his  appointment,  and  they  furnish  not 
only  a  capital  account  of  the  operations  of  the  fleet, 
but  also  intimate  details  in  regard  to  the  personnel  of 
the  raw  colonial  forces  and  frank  expressions  of  his 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    97 

views  in  regard  to  the  necessary  qualifications  of  a 
commanding  officer  in  the  navy. 

The  first  of  these  letters  is  dated  the  14th  of  April, 
immediately  after  his  arrival  at  New  London,  at  the 
end  of  the  first  cruise  of  the  squadron.  The  first  part 
of  the  letter  contains  a  very  brief  account  of  the  New 
Providence  expedition,  in  which  he  modestly  makes 
no  mention  at  all  of  his  own  agency  in  the  plan  which 
brought  about  its  success. 

The  account  of  this  engagement  is  here  given  as  he 
wrote  it  in  the  latter  part  of  his  letter  to  Hewes,  and  in 
it  it  will  be  seen  that  he  refrains  entirely  from  making 
any  criticism  of  his  most  ineffective  superior  officers, 
except  in  one  comment,  very  guarded  and  possibly 
even  suppressed  in  the  final  draft.  His  feelings,  those 
sensitive  feelings  of  "a  man  of  liberal  mind  long  accus- 
tomed to  command,"  have  evidently  been  seriously 
hurt,  and  he  pours  them  out  in  confidence  to  his  friend. 
Alas!  the  note  of  injury  is  rarely  lacking  in  the  many 
letters  preserved  of  Jones,  from  this  early  moment 
until  the  end. 


Our  cruise  was  now  directed  back  for  the  Continents, 
and  after  meeting  with  much  bad  weather,  on  the  5th. 
instant  off  Block  Island,  we  took  one  of  Captain  Wal- 
lace's (the  commander  of  the  British  Fleet  off  B.  I.) 
tenders.  The  Hawk  Schooner  of  six  guns.  The  next 
morning  we  fell  in  with  the  Glasgow,  man  of  war,  and 
a  hot  engagement  ensued;  the  particulars  of  which  I 
cannot  communicate  better  than  by  extracting  the 
minutes  which  I  entered  in  the  Alfred's  log  book,  as 
follows: — 


98  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

At  2  a.  m.  cleared  the  ship  for  action.  At  half  past 
2  ditto,  the  Cabot  being  between  us,  and  the  enemy, 
began  to  engage,  and  soon  after  we  did  the  same,  at  the 
third  glass  the  enemy  bore  away  and  by  crowding  sail 
at  length  got  a  considerable  ways  ahead ;  made  signals 
for  the  ships  of  the  English  fleet  at  Rhode  Island  to 
come  to  her  assistance,  and  steered  directly  for  the 
harbor.  The  Commodore  then  thought  it  imprudent 
to  risk  our  prizes  by  pursuing  farther;  therefore,  to 
prevent  our  being  decoyed  into  their  hands  at  half  past 
six  made  the  signal  to  leave  off  the  chase,  and  hauled 
by  the  wind  to  join  our  prizes.  The  Cabot  was  dis- 
abled at  the  second  broadside;  the  captain  dangerously 
wounded,  the  master  and  several  men  killed.  The 
enemy's  whole  fire  was  then  directed  at  us,  and  an  un- 
lucky shot  having  carried  away  our  wheel  block  and 
ropes,  the  ship  broached  to  and  gave  the  enemy  an  op- 
portunity of  raking  us  with  serving  broadsides  before 
we  were  again  in  a  condition  to  steer  the  ship  and  re- 
turn the  fire.  In  the  action,  we  received  several  shot 
under  water,  which  made  the  ship  very  leaky.  We 
had  besides  the  main  mast  shot  through,  and  the 
upper  work  and  rigging  very  considerably  damaged. 
Yet  it  is  surprising  that  we  only  lost  the  second  Lieu- 
tenant of  marines  and  four  men. 

At  this  point  the  significant  comment  occurs  which 
has  been  already  referred  to.  It  is  crossed  out  but  is 
perfectly  legible. 

It  is  your  province  to  make  the  natural  comments 
arising  from  the  subject  I  wish  to  avoid  concerning 
individuals.  The  utmost  delicacy  is  necessary  and 
highly  becoming  in  my  situation.  I  therefore  content 
myself  with  relating  facts,  and  I  leave  wiser  heads  the 
privilege  of  determining  their  propriety. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY    99 

The  letter  continues  as  follows: 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  assuring  you  that  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief is  respected  thro'  the  fleet,  and  I  ver- 
ily believe  that  the  officers  and  men  in  general  would 
go  any  length  to  execute  his  orders.  It  is  with  pain 
that  I  confine  this  plaudit  to  an  individual.  I  should 
be  happy  in  extending  it  to  every  captain  and  officer 
in  the  service;  praise  is  certainly  due  to  some,  but  alas, 
there  are  exceptions.  It  is  certainly  for  the  interest 
of  the  service  that  a  cordial  interchange  of  civilities 
should  subsist  between  superior  and  inferior  officers, 
and  therefore  it  is  bad  policy  in  superiors  to  behave 
toward  their  inferiors  indiscriminately,  and  tho'  they 
were  of  a  lower  species,  such  a  conduct  will  damp  the 
spirits  of  any  man.  Would  to  heaven  it  were  other- 
wise, but  in  sad  truth  this  is  a  conduct  too  much  in 
fashion  in  our  infant  fleet;  the  ill  consequences  of  this 
are  obvious.  Men  of  liberal  minds  who  have  been  long 
accustomed  to  command  can  ill  brook  being  thus  set 
at  naught  by  others  who  claim  a  monopoly  of  sense. 
The  rude  ungentle  treatment  they  experience,  creates 
such  heart  burnings  as  are  in  nowise  consonant  with 
that  cheerful  ardor  and  spirit  which  ought  ever  to  be 
the  characteristic  of  an  officer,  and  therefore  when  he 
adopts  such  a  line  of  conduct  in  order  to  prove  it  (for 
to  be  well  obeyed  it  is  necessary  to  be  esteemed)  who- 
ever thinks  himself  heartily  in  the  service  is  widely 
mistaken. 

The  officer  here  referred  to  (Jones's  own  command- 
ing officer)  was  Captain  Saltonstall,  and,  as  has  been 
seen,  a  relation  of  John  Adams.  This  relationship  in 
itself  tells  us  that  he  was  not  only  New  England  by 
birth,  but,  as  an  Adams  appointment,  strongly  New 
England  in  sympathy.    There  was  much  sectional  jeal- 


100  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ousy  in  the  army  between  the  New  England  and  the 
Southern  soldiers,  and  it  is  not  in  any  way  surprising 
that  this  feeling  also  found  its  way  into  the  fleet.  Cap- 
tain Saltonstall  is  described  as  being  sandy-haired, 
stocky  in  figure,  short-necked,  and  irascible.  With 
sensibilities  and  customs  formed  by  the  unusual  cour- 
tesy and  the  generous  and  gracious  standards  of  his 
Southern  friends,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Jones  found 
the  manners  of  his  superior  officer  "rude  and  ungentle." 
By  the  11th  of  April  the  fleet  arrived  at  New  London 
and  put  up  for  repairs.  Difficulties  many  and  great 
now  surrounded  the  unlucky  Hopkins.  A  storm  of 
criticism  for  the  escape  of  the  Glasgow  broke  over  his 
head.  Small-pox  appeared  among  the  sailors  and 
raged  with  unabated  violence  for  many  weeks.  Two 
hundred  men  from  the  different  ships  were  laid  up  in 
temporary  hospitals,  and  it  became  wellnigh  impos- 
sible to  man  the  ships.  An  astonished  and  indignant 
public  demanded  an  explanation  as  to  the  so-called 
disgraceful  inefficiency  of  the  newly  appointed  officers 
of  the  fleet.  Hopkins  was  violently  assailed,  as  well 
as  his  brother-in-law,  Abraham  Whipple.  The  latter 
put  up  a  spirited  defence.  This  was  the  same  man 
who  destroyed  his  majesty's  ship,  the  Gaspe,  in  Narra- 
gansett  harbor  in  1772.  This  incident  of  that  early 
moment  in  the  budding  Revolution  has  always  been 
celebrated.  The  correspondence  which  ensued  is  char- 
acteristic enough  to  be  quoted: 

From  the  British  Commander-in-Chief  Wallace  to 
Abraham  Whipple: 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY   101 

Sir:— 

You,  Abraham  Whipple,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1772, 
burned  his  Majesty's  ship  the  GaspG,  and  I  will  hang 
you  at  the  yard  arm. 

From  Abraham  Whipple  to  the  British  Com- 
mander: 

Sir  James  Wallace: — 
Sir: — Always  catch  a  man  before  you  hang  him. 

A  gentleman  of  this  temper  would  not  be  likely  to 
sit  down  quietly  under  undeserved  criticism,  and  he 
appealed  to  his  brother-in-law  and  commander  as 
follows: 

If  I  did  not  do  my  duty  it  was  not  out  of  cowardice, 
but  for  want  of  judgment,  I  say  all  the  people  of  New 
London  look  on  me  with  contempt.  Therefore,  I,  hav- 
ing a  family  of  children  to  be  upbraided  with  the  mark 
of  cowardice,  and  my  own  character  now  scandalized 
thro'  the  whole  thirteen  colonies,  it  is  a  thing  I  cannot 
bear,  and  if  I  am  a  coward,  I  have  no  business  in  the 
service  of  the  country. 

The  charges  against  Whipple  were  duly  investi- 
gated in  a  court-martial,  held  on  May  9,  when  he  was 
promptly  acquitted  and  restored  to  the  service,  in 
which  he  remained  for  many  years.  Jones  was  pres- 
ent as  a  witness  at  his  trial,  and  defended  him,  a  fact 
which  he  was  unfortunately  compelled  to  recall  to  his 
memory  at  a  later  time.  Captain  Hazard,  whose  trial 
took  place  a  few  days  earlier,  on  the  1st  of  May, 
was  convicted  of  cowardice  and  broke,  and  the  com- 


102  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

mand  of  his  ship,  the  Providence,  given  to  Jones.  The 
commander-in-chief  at  this  troublous  moment  decided 
to  remain  on  shore,  sending  three  of  the  smallest  ships 
to  sea  with  the  few  men  he  could  muster,  while  the 
flag-ship  and  the  larger  portion  of  the  fleet  lay  idle  in 
the  harbor.  Washington  had  lent  two  hundred  men 
for  a  short  time  to  supply  the  places  of  those  laid  up 
with  small-pox;  but  it  was  a  short-time  loan,  and  the 
plight  of  the  new  fleet  was  truly  a  sad  one.  Most  of 
the  available  seafaring  men  had  shipped  on  privateers, 
and  a  large  number  had  already  been  enrolled  in  the 
army.  It  was  practically  impossible  to  man  the  ships 
or  to  attempt  to  win  back  the  respect  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  public.  Paul  Jones,  evidently  recog- 
nized by  this  time  as  both  active  and  competent,  was 
sent  to  sea  in  the  Providence  with  half  of  Washington's 
soldiers. 

On  the  19th  of  May  Jones  wrote  to  Hewes,  from  New 
York,  a  long  description  of  the  conditions  then  prevail- 
ing in  the  fleet,  so  complete  and  so  interesting  that  it 
is  here  quoted  in  full.  It  contains  the  statement  al- 
luded to  in  regard  to  Jones's  training  of  the  seamen  on 
the  Alfred,  with  its  significant  indication  of  his  previous 
experience  in  the  British  navy: 

On  board  the  Sloop  Providence, 

New  York  19th  May,  1776. 
Sir:— 

I  had  the  honor  of  writing  you  the  history  of  our 
cruise  in  the  Fleet  from  the  Capes  of  Delaware,  till  our 
arrival  at  New  London  the  14th  ult.  enclosing  an  in- 
ventory of  all  stores  taken  at  North  Providence,  etc. — 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY   103 

the  letter  contained  a  particular  account  of  the  action 
with  the  Glasgow  in  an  extract  from  the  Alfred's  Log 
Book — it  also  contained  some  free  thoughts  on  certain 
characters  in  the  Fleet — it  was  enclosed  to  Mr.  Sproat 
and  by  ill  luck  fell  into  hands  not  the  most  agreeable, 
on  its  way  to  the  post-office,  for  which  circumstances 
I  much  fear  it  hath  miscarried,  for  I  have  just  now 
parted  from  Captain  Lenox  and  tho  he  is  late  from 
Philadelphia,  he  hath  no  account  of  any  letters  from 
me  to  his  uncle,  Mr.  Sproat. 

I  now  enclose  you  the  Minutes  of  two  Court  Mar-* 
tials  held  on  board  the  Alfred,  the  evidences  at  large 
excepted — these  minutes  have  not  yet  been  seen  in 
print — .  In  consequence  of  the  last  trial  I  was  ordered 
to  take  the  command  of  this  vessel  the  10th  currt.  I 
arrived  here  yesterday  afternoon  in  36  hours  from 
Rhode  Island  with  a  return  of  upwards  of  100  men  be- 
sides officers,  which  Gen.  Washington  lent  to  the  Fleet 
at  N.  London.  I  left  the  A.  Doria  and  Cabot  at  Rhode 
Island  ready  to  sail  together  for  a  four  weeks  cruise. 
What  will  become  of  the  Alfred  and  Columbus  heaven 
only  knows.  The  seamen  have  been  so  very  sickly 
since  the  Fleet  returned  to  the  Continent  that  it  will 
be  impossible  to  mann  them  without  others  can  be  en- 
tered. I  have  landed  Gen.  Washington's  soldiers  and 
shall  now  apply  to  shipping  men,  if  any  can  be  obtained, 
but  it  appears  that  the  seamen  almost  to  a  man  had 
entered  into  the  army  before  the  Fleet  was  set  on  foot, 
and  I  am  well  informed  that  there  are  four  or  five  thou- 
sand seamen  now  in  the  land  service. 

The  unfortunate  engagement  with  the  Glasgow  seems 
to  be  a  general  reflection  on  the  officers  of  the  Fleet, 
but  a  little  reflection  will  set  the  matter  in  a  true  light, 
for  no  officer  who  acts  under  the  eye  of  a  superior,  and 
who  doth  not  stand  charged  by  that  superior  for  cow- 
ardice or  misconduct,  can  be  blamed  on  any  occasion 


104  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

whatever.  For  my  own  part,  I  wish  a  general  inquiry 
might  be  made  respecting  the  abilities  of  officers  in  all 
stations,  and  then  the  country  would  not  be  cheated. 
I  may  be  wrong,  but  in  my  opinion,  a  Captain  of  the 
Navy  ought  to  be  a  man  of  strong  and  well  connected 
sense,  with  a  tolerable  good  education,  a  gentleman, 
as  well  as  a  seaman,  both  in  theory  and  practice;  for 
want  of  learning  and  rude  ungentle  manner  are  by  no 
means  the  characteristick  of  the  officer.  I  have  been 
led  into  this  subject  on  feeling  myself  hurt  as  an  indi- 
vidual by  the  censures  that  have  been  indiscriminately 
thrown  out — for  altho  my  station  confined  me  to  the 
Alfred's  lower  Gun  Deck,  where  I  commanded  during 
the  action,  and  tho  the  Commodore's  letter  which  hath 
been  published  says:  "all  of  the  officers  in  the  Alfred 
behaved  well."  yet  still  the  public  blames  me,  among 
others,  for  not  taking  the  enemy. 

I  declined  the  command  of  this  Sloop  at  Philadel- 
phia, nor  should  I  now  have  accepted  it,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  rude,  unhappy  temper  of  my  late  Commander. 
I  now  reflect  with  pleasure  that  I  had  philosophy  suf- 
ficient to  avoid  quarreling  with  him  and  that  I  even 
obtained  his  blessings  at  parting.  May  he  too  soon 
become  of  an  affable,  even  disposition,  and  may  he  too 
find  pleasure  in  communicating  happiness  around  him. 

There  is  little  confidence  to  be  placed  in  reports, 
otherwise  the  Lieutenants  of  the  Fleet  might  have  rea- 
son to  be  uneasie,  when  they  are  told  that  the  several 
Committees  have  orders  to  appoint  all  the  officers  for 
the  new  Ships,  except  only  the  Captains.  I  cannot 
think  that  they  will  be  so  far  overlooked,  who  have  at 
first  stept  forth  and  shewn  at  least  willingness — nor  can 
I  suppose  that  my  own  conduct  will  be  in  the  esteem 
of  Congress  such  as  to  subject  me  to  be  superseded  in 
favor  of  a  younger  officer,  especially  one  who  is  said  not 
to  understand  navigation — I  mean  the  Lieutenant  of 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY   105 

the  Cabot,  who  was  put  in  as  Commr.  of  the  Fly  at 
Reedy  Island,  after  I  had  declined  it.  I  was  then  told 
that  no  new  Commission  would  be  given,  and  I  con- 
sidered her  as  a  paltry  message  boat,  fit  to  be  com- 
manded by  a  midshipman,  but  on  my  appointment  to 
the  Providence  I  was  indeed  astonished  to  find  my 
seniority  questioned.  The  Commodore  told  me  he 
must  refer  to  the  Congress — I  have  received  no  new 
Commission.  I  wish  the  matter  in  dispute  may  first 
be  cleared  up.  I  will  cheerfully  abide  by  whatever  you 
may  think  is  right — at  the  same  time,  I  am  ready  at 
any  time  to  have  my  pretentions  inquired  into  by  men 
who  are  Judges. 

When  I  applied  for  a  Lieutenancy,  I  hoped  in  that 
work  to  gain  much  useful  knowledge  from  men  of  more 
experience  than  myself.  I  was,  however,  mistaken, 
for  instead  of  gaining  information  I  was  obliged  to  in- 
form others.  I  formed  an  exercise  and  trained  the  men 
so  well  to  the  great  Guns  in  the  Alfred  that  they  went 
through  the  motions  of  broadsides  and  rounds  as  exactly 
as  soldiers  generally  perform  the  manual  exercise. 
When  I  get  what  men  are  to  be  had,  I  am  ordered  back 
to  Providence.  The  Sloop  must  be  hove  down  and 
considered  generally  repaired  and  refitted  before  she 
can  proceed  properly  on  any  cruise. 

I  should  esteem  myself  happy  in  being  sent  for  to 
Philadelphia  to  act  under  the  more  immediate  direc- 
tion of  Congress,  especially  in  one  of  the  new  Ships.  I 
must  rely  on  your  interest  herein. 

The  largest,  and  I  think  by  far  the  best  of  the  Frig- 
ates was  launched  the  day  after  I  left  Providence,  but 
from  what  I  can  learn,  neither  of  them  will  equal  the 
Philadelphia  Ships.  I  left  the  Columbus  heaving  down, 
and  the  Alfred  hauling  to  the  wharf. 

I  send  this  by  the  Commodore's  Steward,  who  hath 
leave  to  visit  his  wife  at  Phila.  and  will  call  on  you  on 


106  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

his  return  in  a  day  or  two.  I  expect  that  he  will  over- 
take me  here,  if  I  succeed  in  getting  men;  if  not,  he  will 
follow  me  to  Rhode  Island  and  Providence.  May  I 
hope  for  the  honor  of  a  letter  from  you  by  his  hand; 
it  will  most  singularly  oblige  me,  and  greatly  add  to 
the  favour  already  conferred  on, 
Sir, 
Your  very  much  obliged 

and  very  humble  servant, 

John  P.  Jones. 

N.  B.  If  you  have  not  received  my  last,  I  will  send 
you  a  copy  if  desired. 

The  Honorable  Joseph  Hewes,  Esquire, 
Philadelphia. 

This  letter  marks  a  considerable  step  in  Jones's  com- 
prehension of  his  situation  in  the  new  navy.  His  fear 
of  supersedure  was  entirely  natural,  and  expressed 
with  no  undue  violence.  His  feelings,  although  aroused, 
were  completely  under  control,  and  he  professed  with 
characteristic  loyalty  that  he  would  have  due  regard 
for  Hewes's  opinion  and  advice.  His  mind  was  fully 
bent  on  winning  success  in  the  cause  he  had  made  his 
own,  and  he  was  reaching  out  for  opportunity  of  larger 
service,  as  he  realized  his  own  superior  powers. 

Writing  in  1848,  Captain  Mackenzie,  of  the  American 
navy,  in  his  life  of  Paul  Jones,  gives  the  following  ade- 
quate appreciation  of  his  ability  and  of  the  services  he 
might  have  rendered  to  America  if  he  had  been  given 
command  at  this  critical  point  in  her  history: 

"  Could  Jones's  character  have  been  penetrated  and 
comprehended  at  the  first,  and  he  placed  at  the  head 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NAVY   107 

of  our  Navy,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  would  at 
once  have  assumed  a  tone  and  order  to  which  it  was 
long  a  stranger,  and  while  commending  itself  to  the 
gratitude  of  the  country  by  the  achievement  of  glo- 
rious deeds,  would  have  greatly  accelerated  the  events 
which  led  to  the  recognition  of  our  Independence." 


CHAPTER  V 

FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND 

Although  it  was  not  long  before  the  success  and  su- 
perior abilities  of  Paul  Jones  aroused  the  jealousy  of 
the  commander-in-chief,  it  was  Hopkins  himself  who 
actually  gave  him  his  first  step  in  the  service.  On  the 
back  of  his  original  lieutenant's  commission  Hopkins 
wrote  out  his  new  commission  as  captain  of  the  Prov- 
idence, on  May  the  10th,  1776.  Paul  Jones  by  this  act 
assumed  his  first  independent  command  as  captain  in 
the  American  navy.  His  first  duty,  as  has  been  seen 
in  his  letter  to  Hewes  of  May  the  19th,  was  to  convoy 
the  troops  lent  by  Washington  from  Rhode  Island  back 
to  New  York.  He  there  enlisted  as  many  seamen  as 
he  could  find  for  his  nearly  empty  ship,  picked  up  at 
New  London  a  few  more  discharged  from  the  small-pox 
hospital,  and  returned  to  Providence.  There  for  a  few 
days  he  busied  himself  in  getting  his  small  vessel  into 
as  good  a  condition  as  possible  for  active  service,  and 
on  the  13th  of  June,  having  received  orders  from  Hop- 
kins to  convoy  Lieutenant  Hacker  in  the  Fly,  carrying 
some  heavy  cannon  for  the  defence  of  New  York,  he 
again  set  sail  for  that  city.  He  fell  in  with  two  Eng- 
lish frigates  off  Block  Island.  One  of  these,  the  Cer- 
berus, mounted  thirty-two  guns  and  was  a  formidable 
enough  antagonist.    With  her  he  had  two  sharp  en- 

108 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     109 

gagements  and  came  off  with  brilliant  success,  suc- 
ceeding in  defending  his  own  convoy,  and  again,  at  a 
later  date,  in  saving  the  Hispaniola,  heavily  laden  with 
much-needed  stores  for  the  army,  while  hotly  pursued 
by  the  enemy. 

His  next  orders  were  to  proceed  to  Boston  and  from 
thence  to  convoy  some  trading-ships  to  their  destina- 
tion in  the  Delaware.  In  the  performance  of  this  ser- 
vice he  was  again  called  upon  to  show  both  his  good 
seamanship  and  his  address  in  avoiding  the  numerous 
ships  of  war  under  Lord  Howe,  which  were  then  arriv- 
ing in  Eastern  waters  from  England  and  from  Canada. 
He  was  again  successful  in  this  difficult  and  dangerous 
undertaking,  and  brought  his  convoy  safely  into  port, 
arriving  in  the  Delaware  on  August  1,  1776. 

Being  now  at  the  seat  of  government,  in  Philadel- 
phia, Jones  lost  no  time  in  getting  his  captain's  com- 
mission indorsed  by  full  Congressional  authority.  The 
colonies  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, and  Hancock  was  then  president  of  the  full-fledged 
Continental  Congress.  He  duly  confirmed  the  appoint- 
ment given  to  Jones  by  Hopkins  on  May  the  10th, 
by  virtue  of  which  he  had  become  commander  of  the 
Providence,  and  made  out  to  Jones  a  regular  captain's 
commission,  dated  August  8, 1776,  the  first  one  granted 
to  any  officer  subsequent  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. This  was,  as  should  be  noted  and  remem- 
bered, a  doubly  certified  appointment,  given  first  by 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  navy  and  afterward 
confirmed  by  the  president  of  Congress.  On  this  com- 
mission Jones  always  based  his  claims  for  priority  in 


110  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

rank  over  the  thirteen  men  who  were  subsequently  put 
above  him. 

Jones  was  now  once  more  in  communication  with  his 
powerful  and  devoted  friend  Hewes.  The  large  brigan- 
tine  Hispaniola,  which  he  had  saved  from  the  clutches 
of  the  Cerberus,  had  been  purchased  by  Congress  and 
renamed  the  Hampden.  Hewes  influenced  the  marine 
committee  to  offer  the  command  of  this  large  vessel  to 
his  successful  protege^  who  had  already  made  so  cred- 
itable a  record  for  usefulness  and  ability  in  convoying 
the  precious  stores  of  cannon  and  government  supplies 
safely  into  their  ports.  The  recognition  of  these  ser- 
vices received  ample  and  prompt  reward  from  the  ma- 
rine committee,  who  decided  to  give  him  orders  which 
completely  ignored  the  authority  of  the  timid  and 
dilatory  commander-in-chief  of  the  navy.  The  official 
record  states  that  "it  was  proposed  to  Captain  Jones 
by  the  marine  committee  of  Congress  to  go  to  Connecti- 
cut to  command  the  brigantine  Hampden,  but  he,  choos- 
ing rather  to  remain  in  the  sloop  Providence,  had  orders 
to  go  out  on  a  cruise  against  the  enemy  for  six  weeks 
or  two  or  three  months."  This  choice  of  the  smaller 
ship  is  extremely  significant  and  interesting,  for  it 
shows  that  Jones  had  already  very  clearly  developed 
his  ideas  of  the  kind  of  warfare  possible  to  the  colonial 
navy.  With  no  chance  of  competing  with  the  great 
and  long-established  marine  forces  of  Great  Britain  in 
battle  drawn,  the  only  hope  of  success  was  in  brilliant 
and  unexpected  attacks  upon  defenceless  coasts;  these 
attacks  could  only  be  made  in  fast  sailing-ships.  He 
ardently  desired  opportunities  to  carry  out  his  plan  of 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     111 

attack,  and  argued  his  cause  with  such  ardor  and  abil- 
ity with  Hewes  and  the  marine  committee  that  they 
were  convinced  of  his  wisdom  and  conceived  a  flatter- 
ing idea  of  his  capacity.  The  orders  which  they  issued 
to  him  were  very  remarkable,  as  they  not  only  ignored 
the  commander-in-chief,  but  gave  the  young  captain  un- 
limited directions  to  go  where  he  pleased  and  do  as  he 
pleased;  but  it  was  a  remarkable  time  and  a  remark- 
able man  who  had  thus  early  pushed  himself  from  ob- 
scurity. Weaker  wills  and  lesser  minds  were  forced 
aside  by  this  vital  power,  now  focussed  to  activity, 
while  his  equals,  his  great-minded  contemporaries,  then, 
as  always,  generously  aided  and  protected  him. 

On  the  21st  of  August  he  set  sail  for  a  six  weeks* 
cruise,  which  amply  proved  the  wisdom  of  his  plan  and 
brought  him  his  first  taste  of  personal  triumph.  His 
ship  was  very  small,  carrying  only  twelve  long  fours, 
but  he  had  already  found  her  fast  enough  to  get  out  of 
the  way  of  the  enemy's  larger  ships,  and  he  selected 
his  own  crew  of  seventy  men,  who  proved  themselves 
exceedingly  satisfactory  to  the  young  and  untried  com- 
mander. 

Sailing  from  the  Delaware  on  the  21st  of  August,  he 
cruised  a  week  between  latitude  39°  and  33°,  going  to 
the  eastward  as  far  as  longitude  50°  west,  and  taking 
three  brigs,  the  Sea  Nymph,  Favorite,  and  Britannia  ; 
the  first  two  laden  with  rum,  the  last  a  whaler.  These 
valuable  prizes  he  manned  and  sent  home.  On  the 
1st  of  September,  off  the  island  of  Bermuda,  he  sighted 
a  fleet  of  five  sail,  the  largest  of  which  he  took  to  be  a 
merchantman,  and  ran  down  to  cut  her  out.    He  found 


112  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

that  she  was  an  English  frigate,  the  Solebay,  of  twenty- 
eight  guns,  and  a  fast  sailer.  With  a  frigate  such  as 
the  Solebay  the  little  Providence  had  not  the  slightest 
chance  of  a  successful  encounter,  so  Jones  hauled  his 
wind  and  made  all  haste  to  escape,  for  his  error  in  think- 
ing the  Solebay  was  a  merchantman  had  brought  him 
into  imminent  danger.  Scarcely  a  week  afloat  in  his 
own  ship,  the  untried  captain  of  a  crew  of  utterly  inex- 
perienced men,  he  now  gave  an  exhibition  of  skill  and 
daring  worthy  of  comparison  with  the  smartest  pieces 
of  seamanship  on  record.  The  frigate  began  firing, 
and  Jones,  hoisting  the  Continental  colors,  returned  the 
fire.  The  English  ship  attempted  to  take  the  Prov- 
idence by  hoisting  an  American  ensign  in  token  of 
amity,  but  Jones  was  not  to  be  deceived  by  so  trans- 
parent a  ruse.  The  frigate  kept  on  firing,  pursuing 
the  Providence  hotly  for  more  than  four  hours,  finally 
getting  within  musket-shot  of  her  prey.  The  situa- 
tion was  now  critical  in  the  extreme,  but  Jones  had 
already  matured  a  plan  of  escape,  and  with  great  cool- 
ness began  edging  gradually  to  leeward,  so  gradually 
that  he  aroused  no  suspicion  of  his  intention  until  he 
had  brought  the  Solebay  on  his  weather  quarter,  when 
suddenly  the  helm  of  the  Providence  was  put  sharply 
up,  and  crowding  all  sails  she  was  off  before  the  wind 
before  the  Solebay  could  get  a  single  one  of  her  guns  to 
bear. 

A  very  brief  account  of  this  exploit,  without  a  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  the  frigate,  was  sent  in  by  Jones  to 
the  marine  committee  on  the  4th  of  September.  In  a 
letter  of  the  same  date  to  Hopkins,  he  comments  upon 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     113 

the  encounter  with  natural  satisfaction:  "Our  hair 
breadth  escape  and  the  saucy  manner  of  making  it, 
must  have  mortified  him  (the  enemy)  not  a  little — he 
might  have  fired  several  broadsides  while  we  were 
within  pistol  shot,  but  he  was  a  bad  marksman,  and 
did  not  hit  the  Providence  with  one  of  the  many  shots 
which  he  fired." 

Three  days  later  he  wrote  again,  by  the  brigantine 
Favorite,  from  Liverpool,  which  he  captured  on  the  even- 
ing of  September  6.  In  this  letter  he  observes  that 
he  does  not  expect  much  success  on  account  of  the  late- 
ness of  the  season.  His  fears  were  not  destined  to  be 
realized,  as  appeared  by  his  next  report  to  the  marine 
committee.  This  letter  gives  so  clear  and  agreeable 
an  impression  of  his  habitual  temper  when  in  action 
that  it  is  quoted  here  in  full.  His  humanity  to  the 
English  fishermen,  the  warm  commendation  of  his  offi- 
cers and  crew,  and  the  admirable  enthusiasm  and  pa- 
tience under  severe  hardships,  all  expressed  with  the 
greatest  simplicity,  reveal  the  ideal  qualifications  of  a 
commander: 

Providence,  off  the  Isle  of  Sable, 
SOth  Sept.,  1776. 
Gentlemen: — 

From  that  time  (of  despatching  the  Favorite),  I  cruised 
without  seeing  any  vessel.  I  then  spoke  the  Columbus7 
prize,  the  ship  Royal  Exchange,  bound  for  Boston.  By 
this  time  my  wood  and  water  began  to  run  short,  which 
induced  me  to  run  to  the  northward,  for  some  port  of 
Nova  Scotia  or  Cape  Breton.  I  had,  besides,  a  pros- 
pect of  destroying  the  English  shipping  in  these  parts. 
The  16th  and  17th,  I  had  a  very  heavy  gale  from  the 


114  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

N.  W.,  which  obliged  me  to  dismount  all  my  guns,  and 
stick  everything  I  could  into  the  hold.  The  19th,  I 
made  the  Isle  of  Sable,  and  on  the  20th,  being  between 
it  and  the  main,  I  met  with  an  English  frigate,1  with  a 
merchant  ship  under  her  convoy.  I  had  hove  to,  to 
give  my  people  an  opportunity  of  taking  fish,  when  the 
frigate  came  in  sight  directly  to  windward,  and  was  so 
good  natured  as  to  save  me  the  trouble  of  chasing  him, 
by  bearing  down,  the  instant  he  discovered  us.  When 
he  came  within  cannon  shot,  I  made  sail  to  try  his  speed. 
Quartering  and  finding  that  I  had  the  advantage,  I 
shortened  sail  to  give  him  a  wild  goose  chase,  and 
tempt  him  to  throw  away  powder  and  shot.  Accord- 
ingly, a  curious  mock  engagement  was  maintained  be- 
tween us,  for  eight  hours;  until  night  with  her  sable 
curtains,  put  an  end  to  this  famous  exploit  of  English 
knight-errantry. 

He  excited  my  contempt  so  much,  by  his  continual 
firing,  at  more  than  twice  the  proper  distance,  that  when 
he  rounded  to,  to  give  his  broadside,  I  ordered  my  ma- 
rine officer  to  return  the  salute  with  only  a  single  mus- 
ket We  saw  him,  next  morning,  standing  to  the  west- 
ward; and  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  he  hath  told  his 
friends  at  Halifax,  what  a  trimming  he  gave  to  a  "rebel 
privateer/'  which  he  found  infesting  the  coast. 

That  night  I  was  off  Canso  harbour,  and  sent  my 
boat  in  to  gain  information.  On  the  morning  of  the 
22nd,  I  anchored  in  the  harbour,  and,  before  night,  got 
off  a  sufficiency  of  wood  and  water.  Here  I  recruited 
several  men,  and  finding  three  English  schooners  in  the 
harbour,  we  that  night,  burned  one,  sunk  another,  and 
in  the  morning,  carried  off  the  third,  which  we  had 
loaded  with  what  fish  we  found  in  the  other  two. 

At  Canso  I  received  information  of  nine  sail  of  ships, 
brigs,  and  schooners,  in  the  harbour  of  Narrow  Shock 

1  The  Milford. 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND      115 

and  Peter  de  Great,1  at  a  small  distance  from  each  other, 
in  the  Island  of  Madame,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bay  of 
Canso.  These  I  determined  to  take  or  destroy;  and, 
to  do  it  effectually,  having  brought  a  shallop  for  the 
purpose  from  Canso,  I  despatched  her  with  twenty-five 
armed  men  to  Narrow  Shock,  while  my  boat  went,  well 
manned  and  armed,  to  Peter  de  Great;  and  I  kept  off 
and  on  with  the  sloop,  to  keep  them  in  awe  at  both 
places.  The  expedition  succeeded  to  my  wish.  So 
effectual  was  this  surprise,  and  so  general  the  panic, 
that  numbers  yielded  to  a  handful  without  opposition, 
and  never  was  a  bloodless  victory  more  complete.  As 
the  shipping  that  were  unloaded  were  all  unrigged,  I 
had  recourse  to  an  expedient  for  despatch.  I  prom- 
ised to  leave  the  late  proprietors  vessels  sufficient  to 
carry  them  home  to  the  Island  of  Jersey,  on  condition 
that  they  immediately  fitted  out  and  rigged  such  of  the 
rest  as  might  be  required.  This  condition  was  readily 
complied  with;  and  they  assisted  my  people  with  unre- 
mitting application,  till  the  business  was  completed. 
But  the  evening  of  the  25th  brought  with  it  a  violent 
gale  of  wind,  with  rain,  which  obliged  me  to  anchor  in 
the  entrance  of  Narrow  Shock;  where  I  rode  it  out, 
with  both  anchors  and  whole  cables  a-head.  Two  of 
our  prizes,  the  ship  Alexander  and  Sea  Flower,  had  come 
out  before  the  gale  began.  The  ship  anchored  under 
a  point  and  rode  it  out;  but  the  schooner,  after  anchor- 
ing, drove,  and  ran  ashore.  She  was  a  valuable  prize; 
but,  as  I  could  not  get  her  off,  I  next  day  ordered  her 
to  be  set  on  fire.  The  schooner  Ebenezer,  taken  at 
Canso,  was  driven  on  a  reef  of  sunken  rocks,  and  there 
totally  lost;  the  people  having  with  difficulty  saved 
themselves  on  a  raft.  Towards  noon  on  the  26th,  the 
gale  began  to  abate.  The  Ship  Adventure  being  un- 
rigged and  almost  empty,  I  ordered  her  to  be  burnt.    I 

1  The  orthography  of  the  manuscript  is  followed. 


116  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

put  to  sea  in  the  afternoon  with  the  brigantine  King- 
ston  Packet,  and  being  joined  by  the  Alexander,  went  off 
Peter  de  Great.  I  had  sent  an  officer  round  in  a  shal- 
lop to  order  the  vessels  in  that  harbor  to  meet  me  in 
the  offing,  and  he  now  joined  me  in  the  brigantine  Suc- 
cess, and  informed  me  that  Mr.  Gallagher,  (the  officer 
who  had  commanded  the  party  in  that  harbor),  had 
left  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  gale  in  the  brigantine 
Defence,  and  taken  with  him  my  boat  and  all  the  people. 
I  am  unwilling  to  believe  that  this  was  done  with  an 
evil  intention.  I  rather  think  he  concluded  the  boat 
and  people  necessary  to  assist  the  vessel  getting  out, 
the  navigation  being  difficult,  and  the  wind  at  that 
time  unfavourable;  and  when  the  gale  began,  I  know 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  return. 

Thus  weakened,  I  could  attempt  nothing  more. 
With  one  of  our  brigs  and  the  sloop,  I  could  have 
scoured  the  coast  and  secured  the  destruction  of  a  large 
boat  fleet  that  was  loading  near  Louisbourg,  with  the 
Savage  and  Dawson  brig  only  to  protect  them. 

The  fishery  at  Canso  and  Madame  is  effectually  de- 
stroyed. Out  of  twelve  sail  which  I  took  there,  I  only 
left  two  small  schooners  and  one  small  brig,  to  convey 
a  number  of  unfortunate  men,  not  short  of  three  hun- 
dred, across  the  Western  Ocean.  Had  I  gone  further, 
I  should  have  stood  chargeable  with  inhumanity. 

In  my  ticklish  situation  it  would  have  been  madness 
to  lose  a  moment.  I  therefore  hastened  to  the  south- 
ward, to  convey  my  prize  out  of  harm's  way,  the 
Dawson  brig  having  been  within  fifteen  leagues  of  the 
scene  of  action  during  the  whole  time. 

On  the  27th  I  saw  two  sail,  which  we  took  for  Quebec 
transports.  Unable  to  resist  the  temptation,  having 
appointed  a  three  days'  rendezvous  on  the  S.  W.  part 
of  the  Isle  of  Sable,  I  gave  chase,  but  could  not  come 
up  before  they  had  got  into  Louisbourg,  a  place  where 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     117 

I  had  reason  to  expect  a  far  superior  force;  and  there- 
fore, returned,  and  this  day  I  joined  my  prizes  at  the 
rendezvous. 

If  my  poor  endeavors  should  meet  with  your  appro- 
bation, I  shall  be  greatly  rewarded  in  the  pleasing  re- 
flection of  having  endeavored  to  do  my  duty.  I  have 
had  so  much  stormy  weather,  and  been  obliged,  on 
divers  occasions,  to  carry  so  much  sail,  that  the  sloop 
is  in  no  condition  to  continue  long  out  of  port.  I  am, 
besides,  very  weak  handed;  and  the  men  I  have  are 
scarcely  able  to  stand  the  deck,  for  want  of  clothing, 
the  weather  here  being  very  cold.  These  reasons  in- 
duce me  to  bend  my  thoughts  towards  the  continent. 
I  do  not  expect  to  meet  with  much,  if  any  success,  on 
my  return.  But  if  fortune  should  insist  upon  sending 
a  transport  or  so  in  my  way,  weak  as  I  am,  I  will  en- 
deavor to  pilot  him  safe.  It  is  but  justice  to  add  that 
my  officers  and  men  behaved  incomparably  well  on 
the  occasion. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c.  &c. 

John  P.  Jones. 

The  Honourable  the  Marine  Committee, 
Philadelphia. 

The  Providence  then  proceeded  to  the  westward,  as 
he  relates  in  his  last  report  to  the  marine  committee, 
took  another  whaler  at  Saint  George's  Bank,  and  on 
the  7th  of  October  arrived  safe  at  Rhode  Island,  hav- 
ing manned  and  sent  in  eight  prizes,  namely,  six  brigan- 
tines,  one  ship,  and  one  sloop,  and  sunk,  burned,  and 
destroyed  eight  more,  namely,  six  schooners,  one  ship, 
and  one  brigantine,  having  finished  his  cruise  in  six 
weeks  and  five  days. 

Here  was  success  enough  and  of  brilliant  enough 


118  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

quality  to  raise  the  spirits  of  any  man.  It  brought 
immediate  reputation  to  Jones,  and  served  also  as  a 
standard  of  efficiency  to  the  officers  of  the  infant  navy. 

The  news  of  these  exploits  was  a  vast  encouragement 
to  the  marine  committee,  and  made  a  brilliant  contrast 
to  the  inefficient  management  of  the  commander-in- 
chief.  The  condition  of  the  fleet  was  generally  exceed- 
ingly unsatisfactory,  and  the  unfortunate  Hopkins  had 
involved  himself  in  innumerable  difficulties. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1776,  following  the  engagement 
with  the  Glasgow,  as  previously  related,  a  Congressional 
inquiry  had  been  ordered  to  look  into  Hopkins's  man- 
agement of  the  fleet.  By  a  resolution  of  December  1 
of  the  preceding  year,  eight  new  ships  had  been  ordered 
by  Congress,  two  of  which  were  to  be  built  in  Provi- 
dence by  a  local  sub-committee  under  Hopkins's  direc- 
tion. On  his  return  in  the  spring  from  his  unsuccess- 
ful cruise,  Hopkins  encountered  tremendous  difficulties 
in  carrying  out  these  orders,  for  the  members  of  this 
sub-committee  were  themselves  engaged  in  privateer- 
ing and  took  away  his  workmen  and  his  supplies.  As 
a  result  of  his  complaints,  this  committee  was  dissolved 
by  Congress,  and  the  entire  business  given  into  the 
honest  hands  of  his  brother,  Stephen  Hopkins,  but  even 
with  this  assistance  he  advanced  but  little  the  building 
of  the  ships.  Complaints  of  all  kinds  now  arose  as  the 
result  of  this  delay,  and  on  August  23  Hopkins  went 
to  Philadelphia  to  face,  personally,  an  inquiry  as  to  his 
disobedience  of  orders  and  the  generally  unsatisfac- 
tory condition  of  the  fleet.  He  found  in  John  Adams  a 
stanch  friend  and  defender.    The  New  England  states- 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     119 

man  was  a  warm  friend  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  and  nat- 
urally did  his  best  to  protect  his  brother.  He  admitted 
the  inexperience  of  Hopkins,  but  insisted  that  there 
was  no  one  who  could  lay  claim  to  superior  abilities. 
Joseph  Hewes  thought  differently;  but  the  New  Eng- 
land influence  was  very  strong  in  Congress,  and  Paul 
Jones,  away  at  sea  on  his  cruise,  had  not  yet  demon- 
strated his  remarkable  qualifications.  No  better  proof 
could  be  given  of  the  force  and  persuasiveness  which 
Adams  possessed  than  his  success  in  saving  Hopkins  at 
this  time  from  the  results  of  his  incompetency.  He 
was  let  off  with  a  secret  vote  of  censure  and  hand- 
somely given  another  chance  to  redeem  himself.  The 
captured  English  brig,  the  Hawk,  was  rechristened  the 
Hopkins  in  his  honor,  and  he  received  orders  on  August 
28  to  proceed  at  once  on  board  of  her  to  Newfoundland. 
Once  more  Adams  had  carried  his  way  against  "time 
and  tide."  1 

Now,  indeed,  was  the  time  for  Hopkins  to  bestir 
himself  and  to  get  something  done  in  spite  of  all  ob- 
structions and  difficulties,  but  he  was  quite  incapable 
of  meeting  the  emergency.  Not  one  ship  was  he  able 
to  man  and  get  to  sea.  The  ship  which  had  been 
named  for  him,  and  in  which  he  had  been  ordered  to 
set  forth  for  the  British  fisheries  in  Canada,  did  not 
sail. 

1  John  Jay,  writing  to  Rutledge,  expressed  his  astonishment  at  this 
extraordinary  leniency:  "What  is  your  fleet  and  noble  Admiral  doing? 
What  meekness  and  wisdom  and  tender-hearted  charity.  I  cannot  think 
of  it  with  patience,  nothing  but  more  than  ladylike  delicacy  could  have 
prevailed  on  your  august  body  to  secrete  the  sentence  they  passed  upon 
that  petty  genius.  I  reprobate  such  mincing  little  zigzag  ways  of  doing 
business." 


120  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

He  wrote  to  Congress  complaining  that  there  were 
so  many  privateers  that  it  was  difficult  to  man  the  ships. 
Congress  waited  until  the  10th  of  October,  and  then, 
annoyed  but  patient  still,  issued  an  order  for  him  to 
go  out  immediately  with  the  Alfred,  Columbus,  Cabot, 
and  Hampden,  and  to  sail  southward  for  Cape  Fear. 
Again  the  ships  did  not  sail.  The  unlucky  Hopkins, 
now  realizing  that  strong  effort  was  imperative,  made 
a  desperate  fight  in  the  Rhode  Island  Assembly  to  get 
an  embargo  passed  against  the  manning  of  privateers. 
He  appealed  to  his  old  friends  in  the  State  and  worked 
day  and  night  to  get  the  measure  passed.  He  lost  by 
only  two  votes.  He  then  wrote  in  despair  to  Congress, 
asking  for  an  order  to  seize  the  Continental  sailors  who 
had  been  engaged  in  privateers,  but  Congress  failed  to 
support  him.  Hopkins,  now  thoroughly  exasperated, 
lost  his  head  and  expressed  himself  with  blasphemous 
intensity  in  regard  to  Congress,  who  were  ordering  him 
to  sail  and  continually  preventing  him  by  their  support 
of  the  privateers.  It  is  impossible  not  to  sympathize 
with  the  helpless  victim  of  Congress,  which  had  raised 
him,  at  no  request  of  his  own,  to  a  position  which  he 
was  unfitted  to  occupy  and  then,  for  material  and  in- 
terested reasons,  refused  to  interfere  with  the  priva- 
teers who  were  stealing  all  the  available  seamen.  While 
he  was  struggling  helplessly  with  these  conditions  in 
the  August  heat  in  Philadelphia,  and  under  the  fire  of 
Congressional  examination,  Jones  was  off  at  sea.  Free 
and  untrammelled  in  his  one  fast  little  ship,  with  unre- 
stricted orders  from  Congress,  he  was  sailing  on  vic- 
toriously, taking  prize  after  prize,  fairly  revelling  in  this 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     121 

first  opportunity  of  using  his  remarkable  talents,  and 
exulting  in  his  success. 

Jones's  official  reports  to  the  marine  committee  are 
naturally  concise,  but  they  show  that  he  always  obeyed 
orders  with  scrupulous  care  when  they  were  issued  to 
him,  and  used  his  judgment  with  brilliant  success  when 
freedom  was  granted  him. 

The  22d  of  October,  after  his  return  to  Boston,  he 
was  directed  by  Hopkins  to  go  northward  for  the  prin- 
cipal purpose  of  rescuing  a  hundred  American  prisoners 
who  were  working  in  the  coal-mines  at  Isle  Royale. 
It  was  also  intended  to  attack  the  fisheries  in  New- 
foundland. Jones  was  delighted  with  the  prospect  of 
freeing  the  prisoners,  and  declared  that  it  "aroused  at 
once  all  his  feelings  of  humanity."  Hopkins  thus  del- 
egated his  own  orders  from  Congress,  while  he  re- 
mained on  land  to  wrestle  with  the  question  of  the 
privateers.  He  put  Jones  in  command  of  the  Alfred, 
the  Providence,  and  the  Hampden;  but  as  it  was  im- 
possible to  man  them  all,  Jones  set  sail  on  the  27th 
with  but  two  ships,  the  Alfred  and  the  Hampden,  the 
latter  in  command  of  Captain  Hoysted  Hacker,  who 
promptly  ran  his  vessel  on  a  ledge  of  rock  just  outside 
the  harbor,  compelling  Jones  to  put  back  to  his  anchor- 
age. The  season  was  already  very  late  for  this  north- 
ern expedition,  and  delay  was  naturally  most  exasper- 
ating to  the  man  who  had  just  won  his  first  laurels  and 
was  eager  for  further  triumphs.  Restless  as  a  racer, 
it  was  perfectly  natural  that  he  should  have  been  irri- 
tated by  this  unnecessary  accident,  but  most  unfor- 
tunate as  well  as  unwise  that  he  should  have  vented  his 


122  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

irritation  upon  Admiral  Hopkins,  who  had  given  him 
his  command  and  who  was  in  no  way  responsible  for 
Hacker's  stupidity. 

The  old  sea-captain  had  witnessed  the  success  of 
Jones  up  to  this  point  with  no  evidence  of  jealousy  or 
resentment.  He  had  given  him  his  captain's  commis- 
sion, and  had  just  put  him  in  command  of  the  only 
available  ships  in  the  fleet.  Jones  wrote  him  a  letter 
of  complaint  which  Hopkins  considered  an  undeserved 
affront.  It  was  the  last  straw,  and  his  temper  finally 
gave  way.  His  letter  to  Jones  in  reply  is  significant 
of  his  resentment  and  his  sense  of  injustice: 

Providence,  Oct.  28, 1776. 
Sir:— 

I  received  your  disagreeable  letter,  and  you  are 
hereby  directed  to  go  immediately  to  Newport  with 
the  Alfred,  and  if  you  think  the  Hampden  will  not  do 
for  the  cruise,  are  to  take  the  Providence  in  her  room, 
and  follow  the  former  directions.  If  I  can,  I  will  be 
in  Newport  tomorrow. 

I  am  your  friend, 

Ezek  Hopkins. 

This  is  a  brief  and  simple  enough  epistle,  but  its  im- 
portance at  this  point  is  great,  for  it  shows  the  moment 
of  actual  collision  between  Jones  and  Hopkins,  and 
marks  the  turning-point  in  the  latter's  attitude  toward 
his  aspiring  subordinate.  From  this  point  on,  Hop- 
kins's hand  was  against  Jones,  and  he  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity to  thwart  and  torment  him.  On  the  30th  of 
October,  Jones,  still  on  land,  wrote  to  Congress  to  ex- 
press his  annoyance  at  the  delay,  asserting  that  if  the 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     123 

ships  had  sailed  earlier  something  might  have  been 
accomplished. 

On  his  return  to  Boston  at  the  end  of  October  he  wrote 
another  and  very  interesting  letter  to  his  friend  Hewes, 
beguiling  his  impatience  with  the  relief  of  expression. 

Jones  had  contemplated  with  dismay  the  results  of 
the  mania  for  privateering  which  had  taken  possession 
of  the  colonists.  Every  day  the  Continental  seamen 
were  lured  away  to  these  privately  owned  vessels,  and 
half  the  fleet  lay  empty  in  the  harbor.  Astonished  and 
disgusted  by  this  revelation  of  character  in  the  people 
whose  cause  he  had  so  enthusiastically  embraced,  he 
poured  out  his  feelings  to  his  patron  as  to  a  man  of 
disinterested  candor,  protesting  his  belief  that  he,  at 
least,  was  governed  by  the  noblest  motives. 

When  I  put  in  here  with  the  Providence,  as  she  has 
been  four  months  off  the  ground,  my  intention  was  to 
scrub  her  bottom,  repair  her  sails  and  rigging,  and 
proceed  to  cruise  off  Sandy  Hook,  and  from  thence  re- 
turn to  Philadelphia.  I  was  prevented  from  this  by 
the  Commodore's  proposing  to  me  to  take  command  of 
the  present  expedition  against  the  Coal  Fleet  off  Cape 
Briton  and  Fishery  of  New  Foundland  with  the  Alfred, 
Hampden,  and  Providence. — I  was  obliged  to  take  all 
the  men  out  of  the  Providence  and  her  Prizes  which 
made  up  my  number  to  about  one  hundred  and  forty. 
— I  set  out  with  the  Alfred  and  the  Hampden,  the  latter 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Hacker,  who  ran  his 
vessel  on  a  rock  at  the  very  entrance  of  the  harbor, 
compelling  me  to  put  back.  This  misfortune  obliged 
me  to  shift  Captain  Hacker  and  all  his  men  into  the 
Providence  and  is  by  a  second  loss  of  time  a  material 
drawback  to  my  prospect  of  success. 


124  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Our  infant  Navy  is  by  no  means  well  established,  nor 
under  proper  regulations,  while  self  interest  prevails. 
Unless  the  private  emolument  in  individuals  in  our 
Navy  is  made  equal,  if  not  superior  to  that  of  our 
enemies  in  these  Iron  times,  we  cannot  hope  to  repel 
their  force.  I  am  informed,  and  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve it  to  be  too  true,  that  even  some  of  the  Gentlemen 
appointed  to  fit  out  the  new  frigates,  are  concerned  in 
privateers,  and  not  only  wink  at,  but  encourage  and 
employ  deserters  from  the  Navy.  What  punishment 
is  equal  to  such  baseness?  And  yet  these  men  pretend 
to  love  their  country.  In  the  English  fleet,  though 
they  impress  the  seamen — the  Crown  gives  up  the  cap- 
tors all  they  take,  and  even  allow  them  a  bounty  for 
several  things. — And  can  America  expect  to  raise  from 
nothing  a  Navy  able  to  repel  the  powerful  enemy,  while 
she  holds  out  scarce  a  third  of  the  encouragement? — 
The  supposition  is  absurd.  Both  the  Army  and  Fleet 
have  experienced  the  evil  effects  of  such  sentiments 
already,  and  will  experience  worse  consequences  if  her 
mode  is  not  altered.  Inclosed  I  send  you  a  copy  of  a 
comparative  state  of  wages  in  our  Navy  and  in  English 
Fifth  Rates — it  was  made  in  New  Hampshire  and  sent 
here  by  Captain  Olney.  It  is  a  matter,  however,  that 
doth  not  in  any  wise  concern  me — as  I  have  no  family 
or  dependants,  and  probably  never  will  have  any — I 
am  easily  provided  for,  and  not  in  the  least  uneasy  on 
my  own  account. 

On  the  2d  of  November  he  set  sail  again  in  the  Alfred, 
in  company  with  the  Providence,  for  Newfoundland. 
Jones  had  found  only  thirty  men  on  board  the  flag-ship 
of  the  squadron  when  he  was  put  in  command.  With 
much  difficulty  he  managed  to  double  the  number, 
but  the  ships  were  not  only  pitifully  short-handed,  but 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     125 

ill-supplied  with  water,  food,  and  clothing.  He  was 
immediately  deserted  by  the  cowardly  and  inefficient 
Captain  Hacker,  who  gave  him  the  slip  in  the  fog,  and 
returned  in  the  Providence  to  Newport.  Jones  was  now 
left  to  sail  alone  in  the  face  of  difficulties  that  would 
have  discouraged  an  ordinary  man.  He  had  been  de- 
layed by  no  fault  of  his  own  until  the  hostile  coasts  he 
was  to  visit  were  bound  in  ice.  The  sea  was  tempest- 
uous, he  was  buffeted  by  almost  continual  gales,  and 
blanketed  with  the  impenetrable  white  fogs  of  the 
northern  latitudes.  However,  he  was  once  more  free 
and  afloat,  and,  perfectly  undaunted,  he  threw  all  his 
incomparable  powers  into  the  venture,  exulting  in  its 
dangers  and  inspiring  his  ill-clad  and  scanty  crew  with 
his  own  burning  enthusiasm.  To  his  bitter  regret  he 
found  the  harbor  at  Isle  Royale  solidly  frozen  over  upon 
his  arrival,  and  with  his  small  force  did  not  dare  to 
make  a  land  attack  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  the  pris- 
oners. The  first  and  most  cherished  purpose  of  the 
expedition  was  thus  defeated,  first,  by  the  delay  in  sail- 
ing, due  to  Hacker's  stupidity,  and,  secondly,  by  his 
cowardly  desertion.  Jones,  nevertheless,  brought  the 
cruise  to  a  brilliant  conclusion.  The  manner  in  which 
he  conducted  it  was  typical  of  all  his  successes,  which 
were  invariably  won  by  superior  skill  and  daring  from 
overwhelming  odds,  wrenched,  as  it  were,  from  the  very 
jaws  of  defeat.  He  was  delighted  with  his  crew,  who 
were  equally  devoted  to  him,  and  with  truly  disinter- 
ested patriotism  he  paid  their  wages  out  of  his  own 
pocket  on  their  return  to  Providence.  The  men  who 
sailed  with  Jones  in  the  Alfred  and  Providence  were  as 


126  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

notable  for  their  patriotism  in  those  days  of  privateers 
as  their  captain,  who,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  found  them 
the  very  best  supporters  whom  he  was  ever  destined  to 
command  in  the  whole  course  of  his  career. 

Jones  sent  in  his  account  of  this  cruise  in  due  course 
to  the  marine  committee,  but  the  best  narrative  is  con- 
tained in  the  journal  which  he  drew  up  at  his  leisure  for 
Louis  XVI,  in  the  year  1786. 

On  the  2nd  of  November  I  took  off  the  Coast  of  Ar- 
cadie  a  Liverpool  ship,  and  soon  after,  near  Louis- 
bourg,  I  also  took  the  Mellish,  a  large  armed  vessel 
having  two  marine  officers  and  a  captain  in  the  land 
service  on  board  with  a  company  of  soldiers.  The 
Mellish  was  carrying  a  thousand  complete  uniforms 
for  the  army  of  Generals  Carleton  and  Burgoyne.  The 
Providence  having  left  the  Alfred,  without  the  slightest 
reason,  during  the  night,  I  was  left  alone  in  the  bad 
season  off  the  enemy's  coasts,  but  altho'  I  was  incom- 
moded with  my  prisoners,  I  was  not  willing  to  give  up 
my  plans.  I  made  a  descent  upon  the  coast  of  Area- 
die.  I  burned  a  valuable  transport  which  the  enemy 
had  run  aground.  I  also  burned  the  warehouse  and 
transports  intended  for  the  Cod  and  Whale  business. 
There  was  much  oil  in  the  warehouses.  I  then  took 
off  the  Isle  Royale  three  transports  and  a  fourth  laden 
with  cod  and  furs.  I  learned  through  one  of  these 
transports  that  the  harbor  of  Isle  Royale  was  frozen 
over,  which  rendered  my  proposed  expedition  impos- 
sible. My  prizes  were  escorted  by  the  Flora  (the 
enemy's)  frigate  which  was  invisible  in  the  fog,  al- 
though only  a  short  distance  away.  The  next  day  I 
took  a  Liverpool  corsair  carrying  sixteen  guns,  and 
then  I  set  sail  to  convoy  my  prizes  to  the  United  States. 

Off  Boston  I  again  encountered  the  frigate  Milford 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     127 

the  Alfred  carrying  few  seamen  and  many  prisoners 
was  very  inferior  in  force,  and  I  would  have  much 
preferred  avoiding  an  engagement  which  promised  me 
no  advantage  but  my  prizes,  particularly  the  Mellish, 
forced  me  to  risk  everything.  At  the  approach  of  night, 
I  took  my  position  between  the  prizes  and  the  enemy, 
and  put  up  a  signal  light,  attracting  the  enemy  in  this 
way  to  a  pursuit.  This  strategy  saved  the  prizes, 
(which  under  cover  of  night  succeeded  in  getting  away). 
The  next  day  I  managed  to  effect  my  escape  after  a 
serious  engagement  with  the  Milford,  which  was  inter- 
rupted and  finished  at  nightfall  by  a  violent  storm.  I 
arrived  in  Boston  with  only  two  days'  water  and  pro- 
visions left.  My  prizes  got  in  safely  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  of  the  smallest  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy. 

The  news  of  the  uniforms  taken  on  board  the  Mellish 
raised  the  courage  of  the  army  under  General  Wash- 
ington's command,  which  was  almost  destitute  of  cloth- 
ing. This  timely  and  unexpected  relief  contributed 
not  a  little  to  the  success  of  the  army  at  Trenton,  which 
took  place  immediately  after  my  arrival  in  Boston.  I 
paid  off  the  crews  of  the  Alfred  and  Providence  from 
my  own  funds,  and  lent  the  rest  of  my  ready  money 
to  Congress. 

It  was  the  middle  of  December  before  Jones  again  ar- 
rived in  Boston,  and  he  returned  not  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of 
his  triumphs,  but  to  battle  against  the  jealousy  which 
they  had  aroused.  Hopkins  was  hopelessly  alienated  and 
lost  no  opportunity  to  show  his  hostility.  He  became 
more  and  more  deeply  involved  in  the  difficulties  of  his 
situation  and  more  and  more  incapable  of  dealing  with 
them.  The  two  new  vessels  which  with  much  difficulty 
he  had  succeeded  in  completing  lay  empty  in  the  har- 


128  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

bor  on  account  of  the  refusal  of  Congress  to  authorize 
the  seizing  of  the  Continental  sailors  who  had  deserted 
to  the  privateers.  Finally,  as  the  crowning  and  com- 
plete disaster,  the  English  fleet,  with  fifty  sail,  de- 
scended upon  the  Rhode  Island  coasts  and  blockaded 
him  in  Narragansett  Bay.  In  the  face  of  this  last  and 
overwhelming  misfortune,  the  old  man  lost  both  his 
temper  and  his  judgment  completely  and  gave  a  pit- 
iable example  of  helpless  rage  and  inefficiency.  He 
gave  orders  and  revoked  them.  He  broke  out  into 
blasphemous  attacks  against  Congress,  and  he  vented 
his  displeasure  in  particular  acts  of  hostility  against 
Jones.  Just  before  the  latter's  departure  on  his  second 
northern  cruise,  Hopkins  had  directed  him  to  seize 
some  Continental  seamen  whom  he  had  found  on  board 
the  Rhode  Island  privateer  called  the  Eagle.  The 
owners  of  this  ship  sued  Jones  for  heavy  damages,  and 
upon  his  return  to  Boston  he  found  that  Hopkins  had 
declined  to  defend  him  in  the  suit,  on  the  grounds  that 
his  orders  had  not  been  given  in  writing.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  Jones  was  disgusted  at  this  desertion.  On 
the  12th  of  January  he  wrote  the  following  unrestrained 
opinion  of  the  commander-in-chief  to  his  friend  Hewes: 

Boston,  12^  January,  1777. 
Honoeed  Sir: 

Enclosed  I  send  a  copy  of  my  last  to  you,  before  I 
left  Rhode  Island  with  the  Alfred  and  Providence. 
Since,  as  I  now  understand,  you  were  not  at  that  time 
returned  from  Carolina  to  Congress  so  that  the  Origi- 
nal hath  not  perhaps  found  its  way  to  your  hands.  I 
would  not  wish  the  Sentiments  in  it  to  escape  your  pe- 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     129 

rusal  for  tho'  I  have  express'd  myself  with  a  freedom 
becoming  an  honest  man,  yet  every  word  is  dictated 
from  a  heart  that  esteems  you  with  perfect  gratitude. 
For  the  particulars  of  my  late  cruise  I  beg  leave  to  re- 
fer you  to  my  letters  to  the  Marine  Board.  I  took  a 
prize  which  by  the  within  letters  you  will  see  I  intended 
for  No.  Carolina  but  to  my  no  small  concern  the  prize- 
master  hath  thought  proper  to  break  his  orders  and  to 
go  into  Dartmouth  in  this  state  altho'  he  had  on  board 
a  full  sufficiency  of  everything  to  have  enabled  him  to 
pursue  his  voyage.  In  like  manner  the  captain  of  the 
Providence  thought  proper  to  dispense  with  his  orders 
and  give  me  the  slip  in  the  night,  which  entirely  over- 
set the  expedition.  If  such  doings  are  permitted,  the 
Navy  will  never  rise  above  contempt.  The  aforesaid 
noble  captain  doth  not  understand  the  first  case  of  plain 
trigonometry,  yet  it  is  averred  that  he  hath  the  honor 
and  that  his  abilities  have  enabled  him  to  command 
a  passage  boat  between  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
long  before  the  war  was  begun.  There  is  a  fellow  who 
calls  himself  a  commodore,  and  who  keeps  us  at  awful 
distance  by  wearing  an  English  broad  pendant.  He 
had  lately  the  honor  of  being  a  stick  officer,  vulgarly 
called  boatswains'  mate  in  an  English  man  of  war,  and 
was  duly  qualified  for  that  high  station,  if  Fame  says 
true,  as  appears  by  his  deigning  to  read  English.  Be- 
sides among  many  evident  proofs  of  his  abilities  as  Post 
Captain,  that  might  be  enumerated — this  notable  one 
may  perhaps  be  sufficient — for  it  seems  that  in  his  ab- 
sence he  directs  his  first  Lieutenant  to  take  orders  from 
the  Boatswain — Nay  'tis  said  that  on  certain  occasions 
he  takes  the  speaking  trumpet  out  of  the  Lieutenant's 
hand  on  the  quarter  deck  and  delivers  it  on  the  fore- 
castle to  the  Boatswain.  To  be  very  serious,  that  such 
despicable  characters  should  have  obtained  commis- 
sions as  Commodores  in  a  Navy  is  truly  astonishing. 


130  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

and  would  pass  for  romance  with  me  unless  I  had  been 
convinced  by  my  senses  of  the  sad  reality.  I  could 
easily  enumerate  many  other  characters  as  truly  orig- 
inal as  commission  officers,  but  it  gives  me  extreme  pain 
to  be  under  the  necessity  of  attacking  private  char- 
acters. It  is  however  some  consolation,  indeed  a  great 
one,  that  this  depravity  is  not  universal.  Among  other 
deserving  characters  that  belong  to  the  fleet,  I  am 
happy  from  personal  acquaintance  to  mention  Cap- 
tain McNeill  as  a  gentleman  who  will  do  honor  to  the 
service.  I  have  conceived  a  very  good  opinion  also  of 
Captain  Thompson  from  some  accounts  which  I  have 
heard.  I  need  not  therefore  name  this  great  man,  this 
Commodobe;  tho'  I  will  if  calPd  upon?  and  in  the 
meantime  I  aver  that  he  is  altogether  unfit  to  com- 
mand a  frigate  of  thirty  two  guns. 

As  I  will  probably  write  you  again  very  soon,  I  will 
add  no  more  at  this  time. 
I  am  with  gratitude  and  esteem, 
Hon.  Sir, 

Your  most  oblidged 

Very  humble  servant 

J.  P.  J. 
Endorsed:  Copy  of  a  letter  to  the  Honble 
J.  Hewes,  Esqr. 
By  Express  from  Council. 

Two  days  after  Jones  wrote  this  letter  he  received 
written  orders  from  Hopkins  to  give  up  the  command 
of  the  Alfred,  in  favor  of  Captain  Hinman,  and  to  go 
back  to  the  smaller  ship  the  Providence.  In  justice  to 
Hopkins  it  is  necessary  to  state  that  the  letter  in  which 
he  announced  his  supersedure  to  Captain  Jones  con- 
tained a  statement  that  Hinman  had  informed  him  that 
he  had  a  commission  from  Congress  which  placed  him 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     131 

ahead  of  Jones.  There  is  no  evidence  in  Hopkins's 
letter  that  he  himself  had  received  any  such  communi- 
cation from  Congress,  and  without  such  orders  the  act 
of  displacing  Jones  from  the  Alfred  was  unjustified  and 
calculated  to  inflict  the  deepest  pain  and  injury.  A 
few  days  subsequent  to  this  Hopkins  delivered  him- 
self entirely  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  by  a  truly 
absurd  example  of  inefficiency.  The  Diamond,  an  Eng- 
lish frigate,  had  run  aground  at  Warwick  Neck.  The 
English  fleet  was  thirty  hours  away,  and  Hopkins  had 
ample  time  to  seize  or  destroy  the  ship,  but  he  con- 
sumed so  much  time  in  contradictory  orders  and  un- 
necessary delay  that  she  made  her  escape. 

A  full  account  of  this  affair  was  written  by  a  Mr. 
Vesey,  a  volunteer  who  had  gone  aboard  the  Prov- 
idence when  Hopkins  took  her  out  to  capture  the  Dia- 
mond. This  account,  most  unfavorable  to  Hopkins, 
was  put  into  Jones's  hands.  It  is  creditable  to  Jones 
that  at  this  juncture  he  was  still  much  too  mindful  of 
the  interests  of  the  common  cause  to  openly  publish 
it,  but  he  sent  it  to  his  friend  Robert  Morris,  leaving 
it  to  his  discretion  as  to  whether  it  should  be  read 
before  the  marine  committee: 

Boston,  January  21$t,  1777. 
Honored  Sir: — 

In  consequence  of  the  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  my  situation  since  my  letters  to  you  of  12th, 
and  18th  current  were  forwarded  from  hence, — I  have 
written  the  within  letter  to  the  Marine  Board  which 
I  must  entreat  you  to  look  over  and  lay  before  them  or 
not  as  you  may  judge  most  expedient.  My  grateful 
dependence  has  been  and  is  on  yourself  so  that  I  sub- 


/ 


132  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

mit  my  free  sentiments  to  you  with  the  most  implicit 
confidence.  If  Mr.  H.  is  at  present  at  Congress — as 
there  is  no  man  whom  I  respect  more  than  himself — 
if  you  please,  I  should  be  thankful  could  he  also  have 
an  oppy.  of  looking  over  the  letter. — When  you  look 
over  the  enclosed  memorandum  which  I  took  down 
from  the  mouth  of  my  late  prize  Master  (Mr.  Vesey) 
you  will,  perhaps,  think  the  Account  more  extraor- 
dinary than  even  the  noted  Affair  with  the  Glasgow, 
I  am  not  yet  sufficiently  informed  to  risque  my  Opin- 
ion. I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  Perfect  Esteem  and 
Respect, 

Sir,  your  truly  Obliged  and  very  humble  servant 

J.  P.  J. 
The  Honble.  R.  M. 

(Indorsement) 

*      No.  9 

Boston,  January  21,  1777. 

Copy  of  letter  to  the  Honble.  Robert  Morris,  Esqr. 
by  Mr.  Livingston's  Express. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  Jones  wrote  the  letter 
to  Morris  in  regard  to  Hopkins's  disgraceful  manage- 
ment of  the  Diamond  episode,  he  wrote  an  open  letter 
to  the  marine  committee  in  which  he  laid  before  them 
his  treatment  by  Hopkins.  This  letter  contains  some 
of  his  justly  celebrated  phrases  in  regard  to  the  qual- 
ifications of  a  naval  officer,  and  is  therefore  quoted 
in  full.  The  passage  italicised  was  adopted  for  use  in 
the  curriculum  of  Annapolis  as  early  as  the  year  1876. 
It  was  set  as  a  motto  for  a  theme  in  the  English  de- 
partment at  the  Academy — and  since  1895  has  been 
posted  on  the  first  leaf  of  the  note-books  used  by  the 
midshipmen  in  that  department. 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     133 

Boston,  21st  January,  1777. 
Gentlemen: — 

Inclosed  you  have  copies  of  my  letters  from  the 
time  of  my  departure  on  the  late  Expedition  from 
Rhode  Island  down  to  the  12th  current.  I  am  now  to 
inform  you  that  by  a  letter  from  Commodore  Hop- 
kins on  board  the  Warren,  January  14th,  1777,  which 
came  to  my  hands  a  day  or  two  ago,  I  am  superseded 
in  the  command  of  the  Alfred  in  favor  of  Captain 
Hinman,  and  ordered  back  to  the  sloop  in  Providence 
River,  whether  this  Order  doth  or  doth  not  supersede 
also  your  Orders  to  me  of  the  10th  ulto.  you  can  best 
determine;  however,  as  I  understand  the  late  Expe- 
dition at  his  request  from  a  "Principle  of  Humanity" 
I  mean  not  to  make  a  difficulty  about  trifles  especially 
when  the  good  of  the  service  is  to  be  consulted.  As 
I  am  unconscious  of  any  neglect  of  duty  or  misconduct 
since  my  appointment  at  the  first  as  Eldest  Lieutenant 
of  the  Navy,  I  cannot  suppose  that  you  have  intended 
to  set  me  aside  in  favor  of  any  man  who  did  not  at 
that  time  bear  a  Captain's  commission,  unless  indeed 
that  man  by  exerting  his  Superior  abilities,  hath  ren- 
dered or  can  render  more  important  Services  to  Amer- 
ica, those  who  step't  forth  at  the  first  in  Ships  alto- 
gether unfit  for  War,  were  generally  considered  rather 
as  frantic  than  as  Wise  men,  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  almost  everything  then  made  against  them, 
and  altho'  the  Success  in  the  affair  with  the  Glasgow 
was  not  equal  to  what  it  might  have  been,  yet  the 
blame  ought  not  to  be  general.  The  Principle,  or 
Principals  in  command  alone  are  Culpable,  and  the 
other  Officers  while  they  stand  unimpeached  have  their 
full  Merit.  There  were  it  is  true,  divers  Persons  from 
misrepresentation  put  into  commission  at  the  begin- 
ning, without  fit  qualification,  and  perhaps  the  num- 
ber may  have  been  increased  by  later  appointments, 
but  it  follows  not  that  the  gentleman  or  man  of  merit 


134  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

should  be  neglected  or  overlooked  on  their  account; 
none  other  than  a  gentleman,  as  well  as  a  Seaman  both 
in  Theory  and  Practice,  is  qualified  to  support  the  Char- 
acter of  a  commission  officer  in  the  Navy,  nor  is  any  Man 
fit  to  command  a  ship  of  War,  who  is  not  also  capable  of 
communicating  his  ideas  on  paper  in  Language  that  be- 
comes his  Rank;  if  this  be  admitted,  the  foregoing  As- 
sertion will  be  sufficiently  Proved,  but  if  farther  proof 
is  required,  it  can  be  easily  produced. 

When  I  entered  into  the  Service,  I  was  not  actuated 
by  Motives  of  Self  Interest.  I  stept  forth  as  a  free 
citizen  of  the  World  in  defence  of  the  Violated  Rights 
of  Mankind,  and  not  in  search  of  Riches  whereof,  I 
thank  God,  I  inherit  a  sufficiency,  but  I  should  prove 
my  degeneracy  were  I  not  in  the  highest  degree  Te- 
nacious of  my  rank  and  seniority.  As  a  Gentleman 
I  can  yield  this  point  up  only  to  a  Gentleman  of  Su- 
perior Abilities  and  of  superior  Merit,  and  under  such 
a  Man  it  is  my  highest  Ambition  to  learn. 

As  this  is  the  first  time  of  my  having  Expressed  the 
least  Anxiety  on  my  own  Account,  I  must  entreat 
your  Patience  until  I  account  to  you  for  the  Reason 
which  hath  drawn  from  me  this  Freedom  of  Senti- 
ment. It  seems  that  Captain  Hinman's  Commission 
is  No.  1,  and  that  in  consequence  he  who  was  at  first 
my  Junior  Officer  by  Eight,  hath  expressed  himself 
as  my  Senior  Officer,  in  a  manner  which  doth  himself 
no  honor,  and  which  doth  me  signal  Injury.  There 
are  also  in  the  Navy  persons  who  have  not  shown  me 
fair  Play  after  the  Services  which  I  have  rendered 
them.  I  have  even  been  blamed  for  the  Civilities 
which  I  have  shown  to  my  Prisoners,  at  the  request 
of  one  of  whom  I  herein  inclose  an  Appeal,  which  I 
must  beg  you  to  lay  before  the  Congress.  Could  you 
see  the  Appellant's  accomplished  lady,  and  the  three 
Innocents,  their  children,  Arguments  in  their  behalf 
would  be  unnecessary.    As  the  base-minded  only  are 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     135 

capable  of  inconsistences,  you  will  not  blame  my  free 
Soul  which  can  never  stoop  where  I  cannot  also  Es- 
teem. Could  I,  which  I  never  can,  bear  to  be  super- 
seded I  should  indeed  deserve  your  contempt  and  total 
neglect.  I  am  therefore  to  entreat  you  to  employ  me 
in  the  most  enterprising  and  Active  service,  account- 
able to  your  honorable  Board  only  for  my  Conduct, 
and  connected  as  much  as  possible  with  Gentlemen 
and  Men  of  sense. 

When  I  was  fitting  out  for  my  late  expedition  at 
Rhode  Island,  the  persons  concerned  in  Privateers 
inveigled  away  the  Seaman  so  fast  that  Commodore 
Hopkins  repeatedly  gave  me  express  Orders  that  when- 
ever I  met  with  a  Privateer,  I  should  cause  her  to  be 
strictly  searched,  and  if  I  found  a  single  Man  belonging 
to  the  Fleet  I  must  take  out  all  who  had  deserted  and 
as  many  more  as  I  thought  proper,  so  that  I  left  a  num- 
ber barely  sufficient  to  Navigate  the  Vessel  into  Port. 

In  consequence  of  this  Order  I  sent  my  Boat  to 
examine  the  Privateer  Schooner  Eagle  in  Tarpawling 
Cove,  and  finding  two  Men  belonging  to  the  Fleet,  and 
two  more  belonging  to  the  Rhode  Island  Brigade, 
concealed  in  such  remote  parts  of  the  Vessel  that  my 
Officer  was  obliged  to  break  open  a  bulkhead  before 
he  could  come  at  them.  I  took  them  with  Twenty 
others  on  board  the  Alfred  and  proceeded.  To  my 
great  surprise  I  have  now  received  a  letter  from  my 
Attorney  Col.  Tillinghast,  of  Providence  informing 
me  that  an  Action  hath  been  entered  against  me  there, 
by  Samuel  Aborn  and  the  persons  concerned  in  the 
Privateer  for  Ten  Thousand  Pounds  Lawful  Money, 
altho'  the  Vessel  was  then  inward  bound,  but  what  is 
truly  Astonishing  is,  that  the  Commodore  (as  I  am  in- 
formed) should  prevaricate  in  the  matter.  Because 
forsooth,  the  Order  was  not  given  in  writing.  I  do  not 
apprehend  that  he  means  to  justify  me  in  it;  however 
be  the  consequence  what  it  will,  I  glory  in  having  been 


136  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  first  who  hath  broke  thro'  the  shameful  Abuses 
which  have  been  too  long  practiced  upon  the  Navy 
by  Mercenaries  whose  governing  principle  hath  been 
that  of  self  interest. 

Colo.  Tillinghast  hath  entered  an  action  against 
the  Owners  of  a  Privateer,  in  behalf  of  the  Continent 
for  the  same  sum,  and  the  first  Monday  of  next  Month 
this  important  Cause  is  to  be  determined. 

One  of  my  Prizes  with  Coal  from  Cape  Breton  got 
into  Rhode  Island  and  was  retaken  after  standing 
the  fire  of  three  of  the  Enemy's  Ships;  another  of  the 
Coal  Ships  was  retaken,  and  carried  to  New  York  by 
the  Frigate  that  chased  the  Alfred  on  the  edge  of  St 
George's  Bank,  but  it  doth  not  appear  that  she  retook 
the  John.  The  Active  and  Mellish  are  safe  at  Dart- 
mouth, the  Kitty,  is  in  this  Port,  so  that  the  John, 
and  one  of  the  Coal  Transports,  are  the  only  Prizes 
whereof  we  have  had  any  Account,  the  first  Frigate 
that  chased  me  in  the  Providence  was  the  Solebay,  that 
within  the  Isle  of  Sable  was  the  Milford. 

I  am  now  employing  myself  to  settle  the  Alfred's 
and  Providence's  Books  and  pay  off  the  Men  whose 
term  of  Entry  is  expired,  when  I  have  the  honor  of 
hearing  from  the  Board,  I  must  request  that  the  Let- 
ters may  be  forwarded  thro'  the  hands  of  Messrs. 
Livingston  and  Turnbull  of  this  City,  meantime  I 
have  the  Honor  to  be  with  great  Respect  and  Esteem, 
Gentlemen, 

Your  Very  Obliged 
Very  Obedient 

and  most  humble  servant. 
J.  P.  J, 
The  Horable 

The  Marine  Board. 

(Indorsement) 

The  Honble;  The  Marine  Board  of  Boston,  21  Jan- 
uary, 1777. 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     137 

Later  note  added  by  Jones  to  copy  in  his  own  hand 
retained  by  him: 

At  this  time  I  was  uninformed  of  the  arrangement  of 
naval  rank  for  Captains  (adopted)  the  10th  Oct.  1776. 

No  direct  reply  was  ever  made  by  either  Morris 
himself  or  the  marine  board  to  this  moderate  and  dig- 
nified appeal.  A  far  more  serious  injustice  of  the 
same  kind  had  actually  been  authorized  by  the  board 
in  the  place  they  had  permitted  to  be  assigned  to 
Jones  on  the  new  list  of  naval  appointments.  Of  this 
new  list,  as  stated  in  the  above  indorsement,  Jones 
was  at  this  time  completely  ignorant.  It  had  been 
made  out  and  confirmed  on  October  10,  in  the  autumn 
of  the  preceding  year,  when  he  was  away  on  his  first 
northern  cruise  and  before  the  added  triumphs  of  his 
second  had  so  largely  increased  his  reputation.  The 
marine  committee,  unable  to  alter  the  adopted  list 
of  naval  appointments,  sought  for  some  means  of  ren- 
dering justice  to  the  hero  of  these  exploits  and  of 
furnishing  him  opportunity  for  further  deeds  of  daring. 

On  the  5th  of  February  they  issued  orders  for  him 
to  take  full  command  of  the  fleet,  and  to  proceed  to 
the  southward  to  operate  against  Pensacola,  which 
orders  were  conveyed  to  him  in  the  following  letter 
from  Robert  Morris: 

Philadelphia,  Feb'y  1st,  1777. 
John  Paul  Jones,  Esqr. 
Sir: 

I  have  frequently  received  your  letters  advising 
me  the  particulars  of  your  several  Cruizes,  and  with 
pleasure  [assure?]  you  the  contents  in  every  instance 
have  been  very  acceptable,  always  entertaining  and 


138  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

in  many  parts  useful.  These  letters  I  have  from  time 
to  time  communicated  to  the  Members  of  the  Marine 
Committee  all  of  whom  express  their  satisfaction  with 
your  conduct.  You  would  no  doubt  expect  an  answer 
from  them  to  your  proposal  for  a  Cruize  this  winter 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  such  they  intended  to  give 
you  long  since,  but  the  confusion  occasioned  by  their 
removal  from  this  City,  and  the  multiplicity  of  busi- 
ness that  has  unavoidably  crowded  on  every  member 
of  Congress  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  give  that  at- 
tention to  your  department  that  they  would  always 
wish  to  carry  into  every  American  concern.  Thus 
circumstanced  they  never  doubted  that  your  Active 
genius  would  find  useful  employment  for  the  Ship 
under  your  command,  as  you  were  so  near  the  Com- 
modore and  could  go  cloathed  with  his  authority,  and 
they  have  not  been  disappointed,  for  you  have  in  that 
way  made  a  most  useful  and  successful  voyage  to  Cape 
Breton  and  thence  to  Boston.  Major  Frazer  passing 
through  this  City  (which  I  have  never  left)  sent  me 
an  Account  of  that  Cruize,  which  appeared  to  be  in 
your  own  handwriting.  Pleased  with  your  success  I 
transmitted  it  to  Congress,  and  wrote  that  if  they 
pleased  I  would  point  out  an  enterprise  or  two  for  you 
to  undertake  and  leave  the  choice  to  yourself.  This 
was  agreed  to  and  my  present  design  is  to  fulfil  that 
promise.  When  I  made  it  I  had  in  view  either  to 
gratify  your  desire,  by  undertaking  an  expedition  as 
you  proposed  to  the  Coast  of  Africa,  or  to  gratify  my 
own  by  undertaking  what  I  think  will  prove  a  more 
useful  one  nearer  home. 

I  have  pretty  good  information  that  there  is  sta- 
tioned at  Pensacola  only  two  or  three  Sloops  of  war 
from  10  to  16  Guns  and  that  at  that  place  there  is  not 
less  than  100  pieces  of  Artillery  which  our  armies  are 
much  in  want  of.  These  insignificant  Sloops  of  war 
lay  there  in  perfect  security,  and  now  and  then  take 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     139 

a  Cruize  along  the  Coast  of  Georgia  and  Carolina. 
Should  they  be  met  with  they  will  immediately  be- 
come your  Prizes.  Should  they  be  out  of  the  way  Pen- 
sacola  may  become  the  more  easy  prey.  It  is  true  that 
Govr.  Chester  has  been  trying  to  put  that  place  in  a 
State  of  defence,  but  he  has  no  troops  and  the  Inhabi- 
tants will  never  defend  it;  therefore,  my  plan  is  that 
you  should  take  the  Alfred,  Columbus,  Cabot,  Hamp- 
den and  Sloop  Providence — proceed  just  to  the  Island 
of  St.  Christophers  where  a  Sudden  and  unexpected 
attack  will  carry  that  place  being  very  defenceless. 
There  is  a  number  of  Cannon  and  Stores  there,  as  well 
as  Merchandise  of  various  sorts  that  we  are  in  want 
of,  and  I  fancy  you  will  make  a  considerable  booty. 
This,  however,  is  not  what  I  have  so  much  in  view  as 
to  alarm  not  only  the  Inhabitants  but  the  whole  Brit- 
ish Nation.  It  will  oblige  the  Ministers  to  provide  for 
the  security  and  protection  of  every  Island  they  have, 
and  that  means  this  must  divide  their  forces  and  leave 
our  coasts  less  carefully  guarded. 

From  St.  Kitts  (where  your  stay  must  be  short)  you 
can  proceed  down  to  Pensacola.  I  apprehend  the  best 
passage  might  be  down  the  South  side  of  Hispaniola, 
and  then  you  might  give  an  alarm  to  the  North  side 
of  Jamaica  by  putting  into  some  of  the  Ports  there, 
cutting  out  their  ships,  &c,  in  all  which  you  must  be 
expeditious  or  their  fleets  will  be  after  you.  Should 
you  decline  medling  with  Jamaica  the  best  passage 
will  be  down  the  North  side  of  Hispaniola,  through  the 
passage  of  Cape  St.  Nicholas  and  Cape  Maize  and 
then  down  the  north  side  of  Cuba.  When  you  arrive 
at  Pensacola  it  may  be  well  to  send  a  Brigantine  & 
Sloop  to  Cruize  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  so 
long  as  you  remain  in  that  quarter,  but  they  should 
wear  English  colors  and  never  go  so  near  into  the  Ba- 
lize  as  to  be  known  for  anything  but  English  Cruizers. 
There  is  at  this  time  not  less  than  £100,000  Sterling 


140  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

value  in  goods  up  that  River.  The  Remittances  for 
which  will  come  away  in  the  Months  of  March,  April 
and  May,  in  Indigo,  Rice,  Tobacco,  Skins  and  Furs, 
so  that  this  alone  is  an  object  worthy  of  your  attention. 
But  as  I  have  said  before,  destroying  their  settlements, 
spreading  alarms,  showing  and  keeping  up  a  spirit  of 
enterprise  that  will  oblige  them  to  defend  their  exten- 
sive possessions  at  all  points,  is  of  infinitely  more  con- 
sequence to  the  United  States  of  America  than  all 
the  Plunder  that  can  be  taken.  If  they  divide  their 
forces  we  shall  have  elbow  room  and  that  gained  we 
shall  turn  about  and  play  our  parts  to  the  best 
advantage,  which  we  cannot  do  now,  being  constantly 
cramped  in  one  part  or  another.  It  has  long  been 
clear  to  me  that  our  Infant  fleet  cannot  protect  our 
own  Coasts;  and  the  only  effectual  relief  it  can  afford 
us  is  to  attack  the  enemy's  defenceless  places  and 
thereby  oblige  them  to  station  more  of  their  Ships 
in  their  own  Countries,  or  to  keep  them  employed  in 
following  ours,  and  either  way  we  are  relieved  so  far 
as  they  do  it.  I  do  not  pretend  to  give  you  any  ac- 
count of  the  Coasts  and  Harbours,  strength  of  Foreti- 
fications  or  mode  of  attack,  for  I  cannot  doubt  your 
being  well  Acquainted  with  these  things,  knowing  as 
I  do  that  you  have  been  a  Commander  in  the  West 
India  trade,  and  at  any  rate  your  appearance  will  be 
unexpected  and  the  enemy  unprepared.  They  have 
no  Troops  and  the  very  sound  of  a  great  Gun  will 
frighten  them  into  submission.  Governor  Chester  will 
no  doubt  know  where  the  Brass  Artillery  are  deposited 
and  be  Glad  to  surrender  them  as  a  Ransom  for  him- 
self and  his  Capital. 

When  your  business  is  done  at  Pensacola  you  may 
give  them  an  alarm  at  St.  Augustine  but  they  have 
some  Troops  &  you  must  be  careful  of  your  men.  I 
think  you  should  carry  with  you  as  many  Marines 
as  possible,  for  they  will  be  useful  &  Necessary  in  all 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     141 

your  Land  excursions.  The  Southern  Colonies  wish 
to  see  part  of  their  Navy,  and  if  you  find  it  convenient 
and  safe  you  might  recruit  and  refit  at  Georgia,  South 
or  North  Carolina,  there  make  a  sale  of  such  part  of 
your  Prize  goods  &c  as  would  be  useful  to  them,  learn 
where  there  was  the  safest  Port  to  the  Northward, 
and  then  push  along  to  such  place  of  safety  as  might 
be  necessary  for  refitting  and  remanning  the  fleet. 

Should  you  prefer  going  to  the  Coast  of  Africa,  you 
have  the  consent  of  the  Marine  Committee,  but  in 
that  case  I  apprehend  you  only  want  the  two  ships 
and  the  Sloop  Providence.  Remember,  it  is  a  long 
voyage.  That  you  cannot  destroy  any  English  settle- 
ments there,  and  that  if  you  meet  any  of  their  men-of- 
war  in  those  seas  they  will  be  much  superior  to  you  in 
strength  &c.  You  may,  it  is  true,  do  them  much  mis- 
chief, but  the  same  may  be  done  by  Cruizing  to  Wind- 
ward of  Barbadoes  as  all  of  their  Guinea  Men  fall  in 
there.  However,  you  are  left  to  your  choice  and  I  am 
sure  will  choose  for  the  best.  Should  there  be  a  dif- 
ficulty in  getting  all  the  Vessels  fully  manned  with  so 
many  Seamen  as  you  may  think  necessary,  take  the 
more  Marines  and  you  will  get  seamen  from  Prizes 
in  the  Course  of  your  Voyage.  It  is  a  Standing  In- 
struction from  the  Marine  Committee  to  the  Com- 
manders in  the  American  Navy  to  be  careful  of  their 
ships,  their  Materials  and  Stores;  to  use  well  their 
Officers  and  men,  preserving,  however,  strict  discipline. 
To  treat  Prisoners  with  humanity  and  generosity  and 
to  keep  them  advised  of  their  proceedings  as  frequently 
as  circumstances  will  admit. 

Wishing  you  success,  I  am  Sir, 

Your  hble  servant, 

Robert  Morris  V:  P: 

P.  S: — If  you  get  the  brass  Pieces  send  them  into 
the  first  Port  in  these  states  and  have  them  valued. 


142  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  magnitude  of  these  orders  came  as  a  complete 
surprise  to  Jones,  who  was  not  only  ignorant  of  the 
degree  of  the  impression  which  his  exploits  had  made 
upon  the  marine  committee,  but  also  of  the  desire  of 
Congress  to  undo  an  injustice  hitherto  unsuspected  by 
him.  Hopkins,  thoroughly  inimical,  refused  to  carry 
out  the  orders  of  Congress.  No  sooner  had  he  received 
the  orders  than  he  sent  the  Cabot  out  for  a  six  weeks* 
cruise,  ordering  out  also  the  Hampden  and  the  Alfred, 
under  Hinman.  Having  thus  disposed  of  three  of 
the  available  ships  of  the  fleet,  he  announced  to  Jones 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  carry  out  the  orders 
of  Congress.  After  waiting  until  the  28th  of  Febru- 
ary, Jones  wrote  to  Hopkins: 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  inform  you,  as  I  have 
already  done,  that  I  am  appointed  by  a  letter  from  the 
Honorable  President  of  the  Marine  Committee,  dated 
the  5th  current,  to  take  command  of  the  Alfred,  Co- 
lumbus,  Cabot,  Hampden  and  sloop  Providence,  and 
to  call  on  you  for  every  possible  assistance  within 
your  power,  to  enable  me  to  proceed  forthwith  on  a 
private  enterprise  of  the  greatest  importance  to  Amer- 
ica. The  letter  has  the  sanction  and  the  full  authority 
of  Congress.  It  is  written  in  their  names.  There- 
fore, Sir,  I  repeat  my  application,  and  demand  your 
hearty  and  complete  concurrence  with  me  in  the  outfit. 

It  is  in  vain  for  you  to  affect  to  disbelieve  my  appoint- 
ment. I  should  have  appeared  personally  at  Provi- 
dence had  you  not  justified  my  conduct  by  leaving 
me  as  you  have  done  in  the  lurch.1 

I  could  have  convinced  you  of  its  being  your  indes- 
pensible  duty  to  give  me  every  possible  assistance. 

1  This  refers  to  the  affair  with  the  Eagle. 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     143 

When  I  placed  confidence  in  you  I  did  not  think  you 
capable  of  prevarication.  I  then,  when  you  needed 
friends,  gave  you  most  convincing  proof  of  my  sin- 
cerity; this  you  must  remember. 

I  asked  Captain  Saltonstall  how  he  could  in  the 
beginning  suspect  me  as  you  have  told  me,  of  being 
unfriendly  to  America.  He  seemed  astonished  at  the 
question  and  told  me  it  was  yourself  who  promoted 
it.  However,  waiving  everything  of  a  private  nature; 
the  best  way  is  to  co-operate  cheerfully  together  that 
the  public  service  may  be  forwarded,  and  that  scorn 
may  yet  forbear  to  point  the  finger  at  a  Fleet  under 
your  command. 

I  am  in  earnest  in  desiring  to  do  everything  with 
good  nature;  therefore  to  remove  your  doubts  if  you 
have  any,  I  send  you  this  by  express,  to  inform  you 
that  I  will  meet  you  at  Pawtucket,  or  at  any  other 
place,  on  as  early  a  day  as  you  please  to  appoint,  and 
will  then  produce  credentials  to  your  satisfaction.  In 
the  meantime  it  is  your  duty  to  prevent  the  departure 
of  the  Cabot,  or  any  other  vessel  of  the  squadron.  I 
am  astonished  to  hear  that  you  have  ordered  the 
Hampden  out  without  desiring  an  explanation;  after 
you  received  my  last  letters. 

My  appointment  was  unsolicited,  unexpected  and 
it  must  be  owing  to  the  hurry  of  business  that  you 
have  received  no  similar  orders. 

I  am,  Honorable  Sir, 
Your  very  obliged, 

Most  humble  servant, 

John  Paul  Jones. 

P.  S.  I  have  sent  by  the  bearer  the  coat  which  you 
desired,  and  likewise  one  for  Mr.  Brown.  If  I  can 
render  you  any  service  here  in  procuring  other  arti- 
cles, acquaint  me  with  the  particulars,  and  my  best 
endeavors  shall  not  be  wanting. 


144  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

As  one  of  the  earlier  biographers  of  Jones  remarks, 
the  mixture  of  conciliatory  overtures  with  the  per- 
emptory language  of  this  epistle  shows  that  personal 
pique  was  tempered  with  a  predominating  desire  to 
serve  his  adopted  country  at  all  sacrifice. 

On  March  the  1st  Hopkins  replied  to  Jones,  abso- 
lutely declining  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  Congress. 
He  declared  that  he  considered  it  "Impossible  to  get 
those  vessels  fitted  or  manned  for  your  proposed  ex- 
pedition," and  that  he  would  acquaint  the  marine 
board  with  his  reasons. 

A  letter  preserved  among  the  Continental  Congress 
papers  shows  that  he  had  actually  received  the  orders 
of  Congress  in  due  time  and  had  disingenuously  con- 
cealed the  fact. 

Jones  was  now  finally  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
nothing  was  to  be  expected  of  his  enemy,  and  de- 
parted in  the  early  days  of  March  for  Philadelphia 
to  lay  the  matter  before  his  friends  in  Congress. 

Hopkins  had  once  more  openly  disobeyed  the  orders 
of  Congress,  and  was  rushing  rapidly  toward  his  de- 
struction. At  the  very  moment  when  he  was  pursuing 
his  hostile  policy  toward  his  too  successful  subordi- 
nate a  conspiracy  was  set  on  foot  which  resulted  in 
his  dismissal  from  the  command  of  the  fleet. 

The  discontent  of  his  officers  found  ready  instru- 
ments in  the  hostile  representatives  of  the  privateers, 
who,  by  virtue  of  their  sponsors'  share  in  the  build- 
ing of  the  new  ships,  could  command  great  influence 
in  Congress.  Emissaries  were  sent  to  Philadelphia 
who  represented  to  the  members  of  Congress  that 


FIRST  INDEPENDENT  COMMAND     145 

the  commander  of  the  fleet  had  described  them  as  a 
"pack  of  ignorant  clerks  who  knew  nothing  at  all." 
This  was  the  final  undoing  of  the  unfortunate  Ezek 
Hopkins. 

Congress  could  be  patient  with  utter  inefficiency, 
and  even  forgive  open  disobedience  of  orders,  but 
could  not  pardon  this  insult  to  its  dignity.  Hopkins 
denied  that  he  had  made  these  invidious  remarks  and 
sued  his  detractors;  but  Congress,  now  thoroughly 
partisan,  actually  paid  out  of  its  depleted  coffers  for 
the  defence  of  Hopkins's  accusers,  and  a  few  months 
later,  in  January,  1778,  the  outraged  dignitaries  for- 
mally disgraced  and  removed  him  from  his  command. 

His  refusal  to  give  the  ships  to  Jones  was  the  last 
act  of  his  hostility,  but  as  events  turned  out  it  was 
effectual  in  working  harm  to  his  enemy,  and  proved  a 
serious  obstruction  to  the  operations  of  the  navy. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK 

Although  Jones's  removal  from  the  command  of  the 
Alfred  had  been  a  matter  for  astonishment  and  cha- 
grin, he  was  so  far  able  to  subdue  his  natural  feelings 
of  irritation  and  injustice  as  to  speak  and  write  of  it 
as  a  "trifle."  His  annoyance  at  Hopkins's  refusal 
to  give  him  possession  of  the  fleet  was  naturally- 
greater;  but  he  was  conscious  of  the  inferior  ability 
and  waning  power  of  his  jealous  adversary,  and  did 
not  consider  that  this  act  of  hostility  on  his  part  would 
be  of  permanent  effect.  He  believed  that  Congress 
would  carry  out  its  plans  for  extensive  naval  opera- 
tions, of  which  he  should  be  the  director  and  com- 
mander, and  that  the  minor  matter  of  his  removal 
from  the  command  of  the  flag-ship  would  be  com- 
pensated by  his  appointment  to  the  command  of 
the  whole  squadron.  His  confidence  was  entirely 
natural  at  this  time,  for  although  the  orders  of  the 
marine  committee  were  of  a  magnitude  which  aston- 
ished him,  they  did  not  surpass  his  own  opinion  of  his 
deserts. 

In  the  few  months  which  had  elapsed  since  his  ap- 
pointment he  had  excelled  all  the  other  officers  in  the 
navy  by  the  number  and  brilliancy  of  his  accomplish- 

146 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  147 

ments,  and  had  become  without  question  the  most 
famous  and  important  individual  in  the  service.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  any  lack  of  modesty  is  discernible 
at  this  time  in  his  valuation  of  himself,  but  that  val- 
uation had  become  necessarily  clearer  as  he  compared 
himself  with  others  and  tested  his  own  powers.  His 
personal  ambition  grew  rapidly  with  its  gratification, 
but  did  not  go  beyond  his  grave  sense  of  responsi- 
bility or  his  genuine  devotion  to  the  cause  of  his 
adopted  country. 

In  the  great  crises  of  human  history  leaders  are 
rapidly  developed.  Paul  Jones  had  conclusively  de- 
monstrated his  pre-eminent  qualifications  for  com- 
mand, and  had  himself  become  fully  conscious  of  the 
fact.  The  freedom  of  opportunity  offered  to  him  in 
this,  the  formative  period  of  a  new  nation,  was  now 
nullified  by  the  irregularity  which  necessarily  charac- 
terized the  experimental  and  changing  regulations  of 
its  government.  Much  dissatisfaction  had  been  ex- 
pressed at  the  irregularity  of  the  navy  appointments, 
and  as  far  back  as  April,  1776,  a  resolution  had  been 
passed  by  Congress  "that  the  nomination  of  captains 
and  commanders  would  not  determine  rank,  which 
should  be  settled  before  commissions  were  granted." 
This  resolution  served  to  nullify  any  equitable  claims 
for  priority  which  might  be  urged  by  any  officer  of  any 
rank  whatever,  and  left  every  question  of  this  kind 
open  for  the  definite  alignment  embodied  in  the  navy 
list  of  October  10,  1776,  which  exhibited  a  truly  ex- 
traordinary irregularity  and  disregard  of  merit.  This 
list  brought  forth  repeated  protests  and  aroused  mani- 


148 


JOHN  PAUL  JONES 


fold  resentment,  but  Congress  obstinately  refused  to 
alter  it. 
The  following  is  the  list  of  naval  appointments: 


NO. 

COMMANDERS 

VESSELS 

GUNS 

1 

2 
3 

James  Nicholson 

Virginia 

28 
32 
24 
28 
32 
32 
28 
32 
28 
24 
16 
28 
32 
24 
16 

14 
12 

28 
16 
10 
10 

8 
4 

John  Manly 

Hancock 

Hector  McNeill 

Boston , 

Dudley  Saltonstall 

Nicholas  Biddle 

Trumbull 

Randolph 

Raleigh 

Thomas  Thompson 

John  Barry 

Effingham 

Washington 

Congress 

Thomas  Read 

Thomas  Grinnell 

Charles  Alexander 

Lambert  Wickes 

Delaware 

Reprisal 

Abraham  Whipple 

John  B.  Hopkins 

John  Hodge . 

Providence .  .  . 

Warren 

Montgomery 

Lexington 

Hampden 

Andrew  Doria 

Providence 

William  Hallock 

Hoysted  Hacker 

Isaiah  Robinson 

Paul  Jones 

Jam  ps  Josiah 

Elisha  Hinman 

Alfred 

Joseph  Olney 

Cabot 

James  Robinson 

Sacham 

John  Young 

Independence 

Fly 

Elisha  Warner 

Lieut.  John  Baldwin 

Lieut.  Thomas  Albertson. 

Wasp 

Musquito 

It  will  be  seen  that  James  Nicholson,  of  Maryland, 
was  put  at  the  head  of  this  list.  It  is  impossible  now 
to  assign  the  reasons  for  this  appointment,  as  he  had 
received  his  captain's  commission  on  June  6,  1776, 
subsequent  to  Saltonstall,  Whipple,  Biddle,  and  John 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  149 

B.  Hopkins,  who  had  been  assigned  to  that  rank  by 
the  first  Congressional  resolution  of  December  22, 1775. 
This  was  an  evident  injustice  to  these  men,  who  bit- 
terly resented  the  supersedure.  It  was  likewise  an 
injustice  to  Jones,  whose  captain's  commission  had 
been  given  him  by  Hopkins  on  the  10th  of  May,  1776, 
a  month  previous  to  that  of  Nicholson.  That  the 
four  captains  of  the  original  list  of  1775  should  have 
preceded  Jones  was  no  injustice  as  far  as  priority  was 
concerned,  nor  was  it  wrong,  for  the  same  reason,  that 
Manly,  sailing  as  captain  under  Washington's  commis- 
sion, or  Barry,  holding  the  first  Congressional  appoint- 
ment, should  precede  him.  With  the  disgrace  and 
removal  of  Hopkins,  Nicholson  became  the  ranking 
officer  in  the  navy,  and  its  nominal  head.  Jones's 
claim  for  the  right  to  hold  this  important  rank  was 
based  on  the  fact  that  the  commission  issued  to  him 
by  Hancock  on  the  8th  of  August,  1776,  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  was  thus  the  very  first 
to  be  issued  with  full  governmental  authority. 

That  he  should  have  hoped  for  the  first  place  on  the 
list  for  this  reason,  and  probably  expected  to  obtain 
it  if  the  orders  of  Congress  to  put  him  at  the  head  of 
the  fleet  had  been  carried  out,  would  not  be  surprising. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did  not  demand  it,  but  only 
contended  for  his  proper  rank,  which,  as  he  stated  with 
perfect  truth  and  justice,  should  have  been  fifth  in- 
stead of  eighteenth  on  the  list.  Even  at  a  later  period, 
when  only  one  captain  of  senior  appointment  remained 
in  the  service,  he  merely  asked  to  be  restored  to  his 
proper  place,  in  spite  of  all  the  6clat  of  his  triumphs 


150  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

and  all  the  influence  which  his  friends  brought  to  bear 
to  put  him  officially,  as  he  was  actually,  at  the  head 
of  the  navy.1 

There  were  several  reasons  which  brought  about 
this  situation,  the  principal  one  being  the  absence  of 
Jones's  indispensable  friend,  Joseph  Hewes,  from  his 
accustomed  seat  in  Congress.  Utterly  worn  out  by 
his  prodigious  exertions  in  connection  with  the  equip- 
ment of  the  marine,  he  returned  in  September,  1776, 
to  North  Carolina,  and  was  absent  at  the  time  the 
naval  list  was  adopted.  When  the  general  assembly 
of  his  State  convened  in  the  spring  of  1777,  he  failed  in 
re-election  to  his  seat  in  Congress,  and  was  therefore 
still  absent  from  Philadelphia  when  Jones  journeyed 
there  for  the  purpose  of  laying  his  wrongs  before  that 
body.  Too  faultless  in  his  modest  but  undeniable 
virtues,  Hewes  had  aroused  enmity  even  in  happy 
Edenton,  and  the  opponents  of  this  Southern  Aristides 
so  vigorously  urged  the  technical  illegality  ignored  in 
other  States,  of  his  holding  seats  in  the  North  Carolina 
and  the  Continental  Congresses  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  that  he  failed  for  this  one  term  only  of  election 
to  the  latter  body.  Jones  therefore  missed  his  assist- 
ance in  his  attempt  to  rectify  his  supersedure.  Other 
reasons,  afterward  explained  to  Jones  by  Hewes,  for 
the  injustice  that  had  been  done  him  were  found  in 


1  Although  on  some  occasions  displaying  notable  bravery,  Captain 
Nicholson  was  far  from  fortunate  in  his  naval  services,  having  permitted 
two  frigates  under  his  command  to  be  captured  by  the  enemy;  and 
having  been  guilty  of  writing  a  disrespectful  letter  to  the  Governor  of 
Maryland,  from  which  State  he  had  been  appointed  to  the  navy,  he 
was  on  May  1,  1777,  suspended  from  his  command. 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  151 

the  fact  that  there  was  a  great  multitude  of  applica- 
tions for  appointments  in  the  navy,  and  that  the  de- 
mands of  the  towns  and  communities  which  had  con- 
tributed funds  for  ship  construction  had  to  be  satisfied 
and  their  candidates  recognized.  Besides  this,  the  New 
England  influence  was  still  very  strong  in  Congress, 
and  much  jealousy  existed  between  the  North  and  the 
South  even  in  those  early  days.  The  superior  ele- 
gance and  social  claims  of  the  officers  coming  from 
the  aristocratic  States  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas 
aroused  a  natural  enmity,  which  found  expression  in 
the  remark  of  Jones's  antagonist,  John  Adams,  always 
a  warm  supporter  of  Hopkins,  when  he  ill-naturedly 
described  Jones  as  "this  stranger  from  the  South." 
Jones  was  at  sea  on  his  first  independent  cruise, 
Hewes  was  away,  and  Morris  had  no  reason  as  yet  for 
any  belief  in  his  extraordinary  merit,  for  he  had  re- 
ceived as  yet  only  one  letter  from  Jones,  that  of  Sep- 
tember 4,  with  its  brief  account  of  his  first  exploits. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  Morris  nor  any  other 
member  of  the  marine  committee  were  then  aware  of 
Jones's  extraordinary  capacity,  and  in  the  absence  of 
this  knowledge  and  of  any  particular  advocate  of  his 
merit,  the  demands  of  the  other  officers  were  recognized. 
A  few  months  later,  on  the  1st  of  February,  when  they 
had  been  aroused  to  enthusiasm  by  the  news  of  his 
successes,  this  same  marine  committee,  in  total  dis- 
regard of  the  naval  list  they  had  so  hurriedly  adopted, 
wished  to  put  him  at  the  head  of  the  navy. 

The  characteristically  clear  account  of  the  matter 
contained  in  a  letter  from  Jones  to  Morris  in  the  year 


152  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

1783,  and  which  he  had  prepared  for  presentation  to 
Congress  at  that  time,  is  here  appended: 

I  became  captain  by  right  of  service  and  succession, 
and  by  order  and  commission  of  his  Excellency  Ezek 
Hopkins,  commander-in-chief,  the  tenth  day  of  May 

1776,  at  which  time  the  captain  of  the  Providence  was 
broke  and  dismissed  from  the  Navy  by  a  Court  Martial. 
Having  arrived  in  Philadelphia  with  a  little  convoy 
from  Boston  soon  after  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, President  Hancock  gave  me  a  captain's  com- 
mission under  the  United  States,  dated  the  8th  day 
of  August  1776.  I  did  not  at  the  time  think  that  this 
was  doing  me  justice,  as  it  did  not  correspond  with 
the  date  of  my  appointment  by  the  commander-in- 
chief.  It  was  however,  I  presume,  the  first  naval  com- 
mission granted  under  the  United  States.  And  as  a 
resolution  of  Congress  had  been  passed  on  the  17th  day 
of  April  1776  that  the  nomination  of  captains  should 
not  determine  rank  which  was  to  be  settled  before 
commissions  were  granted,  my  commission  of  the  8th 
of  August  1776  must  by  that  resolution  take  rank  of 
every  commission  dated  the  10th  of  October  1776. 
My  duty  brought  me  again  to  Philadelphia  in  April 

1777,  and  President  Hancock  then  told  me  that  new 
naval  commissions  were  ordered  to  be  distributed  to 
the  officers.  He  requested  me  to  show  him  the  cap- 
tain's commission  he  had  given  me  the  year  before. 
I  did  so.  He  then  desired  me  to  leave  it  with  him  a 
day  or  two,  till  he  could  find  a  leisure  moment  to  fill 
up  a  new  commission.  I  made  no  difficulty  when  I 
waited  on  him  the  day  before  my  departure,  to  my 
great  surprise  he  put  into  my  hands  a  commission 
dated  the  10th  day  of  October  1776,  and  number  18 
on  the  margin.  I  told  him  that  this  was  not  what  I 
expected,  and  requested  my  former  commission.    He 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  153 

turned  over  various  papers  on  the  table,  and  at  last 
told  me  he  was  sorry  to  have  lost  or  mislaid  it.  He 
paid  me  so  many  compliments  on  the  service  I  had 
performed  in  vessels  of  little  force,  and  assured  me  no 
officer  stood  higher  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  than 
myself,  a  proof  of  which  he  said  was  my  late  appoint- 
ment to  the  command  of  secret  expeditions,  with  five 
sail  and  men  proportioned,  against  St.  Kitts,  Pensa- 
cola,  Augustine,  and  so  forth.  That  the  table  of  Naval 
rank  that  had  been  adopted  the  1st  of  October  had 
been  drawn  up  in  a  hurry  and  without  well  knowing 
the  different  merits  and  qualifications  of  the  officers. 
That  it  was  the  intention  of  Congress  to  render  im- 
partial justice,  and  always  to  honor,  promote  and  re- 
ward merit.  And  to  myself  that  I  might  depend  on 
receiving  a  very  agreeable  appointment  soon  after  my 
return  to  Boston,  and  until  I  was  perfectly  satisfied 
respecting  my  rank,  I  should  have  separate  command. 

It  is  plainly  evident  from  this  account  that  the 
courteous  and  elegant  Hancock  found  himself  in  an 
awkward  predicament.  He  was  naturally  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  members  of  the  New  England  party 
in  Congress,  and  was  of  no  caliber  to  stand  out  against 
their  claims  or  to  remove  their  candidates  after  they 
had  once  been  appointed.  Thus  Jones  was  deprived 
of  his  proper  rank  in  the  navy — rank  which,  to  quote 
his  own  noble  and  characteristic  phrase,  "opens  the 
door  to  glory." 

This  injustice  was  destined  to  bring  about  very  seri- 
ous results;  for  although  his  reputation  suffered  little, 
an  irremediable  bent  was  given  to  his  mind,  which  had 
already  shown  dangerous  tendencies  to  carry  all  its 
processes  to  the  extreme  limit,  and  which  finally  made 


154  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

him  into  a  man  with  a  grievance,  a  r61e  which  nature 
had  never  intended  he  should  fill. 

He  bore  with  perfect  courage  and  unusual  philos- 
ophy the  results  of  the  Mungo  Maxwell  affair.  With 
less  composure  he  had  been  overwhelmed  in  the  sec- 
ond black  period  of  ill-luck  which  had  followed  the 
killing  of  the  mutineer.  Just  recovered  from  this,  and 
but  lately  emerged  into  the  light  of  noble  effort  and 
successful  accomplishment,  this  unjust  supersedure  in 
rank  roused  a  brooding  sense  of  ill-desert  to  which  he 
too  often  gave  utterance,  and  which  remained  to  the 
last  the  most  unsympathetic  trait  in  his  character. 

Washington's  fury  at  a  like  insult  in  the  days  of 
his  early  colonial  campaigns  is  recorded  in  his  own 
uncompromising  terms.  Benedict  Arnold's  fiery  and 
less-balanced  nature  was  utterly  overthrown  by  the 
same  careless  disregard  of  transcendent  merit,  the 
same  obstinate  refusal  to  recognize  and  rectify  a  wrong. 
If  Congress  had  been  guilty  of  errors  and  injustice  to 
the  officers  of  its  newly  organized  navy,  it  had,  on  the 
other  hand,  great  reasons  for  dissatisfaction  with  their 
exploits.  Little,  indeed,  had  been  done  by  the  regu- 
lar naval  forces,  owing  to  Hopkins's  incapacity  and 
the  overwhelming  predominance  of  the  privateers. 
It  is  astonishing  to  read  that  these  privately  com- 
manded vessels  actually  captured  as  many  as  three 
hundred  British  ships  during  the  year  1776.  Agri- 
culture was  practically  abandoned  in  many  States  in 
favor  of  this  very  lucrative  form  of  enterprise,  and 
most  of  the  available  men  were  engaged  by  the  pri- 
vateers. 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  155 

The  fleet  under  Hopkins  never  went  out  after  its 
first  cruise  to  New  Providence.  The  gallant  Nicholas 
Biddle,  who  was  destined  to  end  his  brief  career  in 
the  following  year,  made  one  cruise  of  a  brilliancy 
almost  equalling  those  of  Jones.  Barry  took  a  num- 
ber of  ships,  and  Captain  Hardy,  of  Connecticut,  and 
Captain  Waters,  in  Manly's  old  ship,  the  Lee,  captured 
some  transports  with  five  hundred  British  soldiers  off 
Nantasket  Roads;  but  most  of  the  original  fleet  lay 
empty  and  useless  in  Narragansett  Bay.  The  autumn 
of  1776  was,  in  fact,  the  hour  of  the  blackest  discour- 
agement for  the  patriot  cause,  and  the  times  were  des- 
perately critical.  When  Washington,  at  the  head  of 
his  rapidly  disintegrating  force,  reported  that  many 
of  his  men  were  actually  naked  and  none  of  them  fitly 
clad  for  service,  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  Mellish, 
which  arrived  just  before  the  battle  of  Trenton,  came 
as  heaven-sent  succor.  The  action  of  Congress  was 
calculated  to  deprive  the  country  of  the  most  efficient 
officer  in  the  navy,  and  yet  it  was  only  Jones's  public 
spirit  and  his  noble  self-forgetfulness  which  prevented 
this  calamity.  Washington  himself,  at  this  very  mo- 
ment, wrote  to  Congress  that  "the  want  of  regimental 
promotion  has  already  driven  some  of  the  best  officers 
that  were  in  the  Army,  out  of  the  service." 

To  understand  the  reasons  which  made  such  faulty 
and  vacillating  measures  possible  to  the  government, 
it  is  necessary  to  recall  that  the  navy  list  was  adopted 
in  the  month  of  October,  1776,  only  a  few  weeks  before 
Congress  fled  in  panic  from  Philadelphia.  The  noble 
body  of  statesmen  and  orators  did  not  acquit  them- 


156  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

selves  with  common-sense  or  common  courage  at  this 
most  critical  moment  in  the  history  of  America.  It 
was  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Revolution.  The  enemy 
was  in  possession  of  New  York;  the  disaster  of  Long 
Island  had  been  followed  by  the  loss  of  the  Hudson 
River  forts.  The  army  of  Washington  was  rapidly 
going  to  pieces,  and  the  traitor  Lee  was  holding  back 
the  forces  under  his  command  from  assisting  the  com- 
mander-in-chief. The  country  was  in  despair  and  panic 
was  spreading  rapidly  among  the  people,  the  army, 
and  the  members  of  Congress.  Washington  informed 
the  president  of  that  body  that  he  believed  that  Howe 
intended  immediately  to  take  possession  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  absurd  refusal  of  the  people  who  were  wag- 
ing war  against  illegal  taxation  to  submit  to  the  obvious 
necessity  of  proper  taxation  to  carry  on  the  war  kept 
the  treasury  empty,  and  the  no  less  absurd  system  of 
short  enlistments  reduced  the  army  to  a  miserable  and 
changing  handful.  Howe's  offers  of  amnesty  were 
being  widely  accepted,  and  the  ignorant  brutality  of 
the  Hessian  mercenaries,  which  despoiled  both  patriot 
and  Tory  alike,  had  not  yet  driven  the  hesitating 
farmers  to  protect  their  homes  by  joining  the  patriot 
army.  Washington  himself,  writing  privately  to  his 
brother,  declared  that  "if  every  nerve  is  not  strained 
to  recruit  the  army  with  all  possible  expedition,  I 
think  the  game  is  up."  In  November  the  British  ad- 
vanced to  Trenton,  and  rumors  of  Hessians  and  High- 
landers marching  from  Burlington  toward  Cooper's 
Ferry  threw  Philadelphia  into  a  turmoil.  A  wild  scene 
of  distress  ensued,  with  every  one  hurriedly  departing 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  157 

except  the  Quakers.  Congress  fled  precipitately  to 
Baltimore,  leaving  accounts  unpaid  and  papers  in  con- 
fusion. Robert  Morris  remained  practically  alone  at 
the  seat  of  government  to  carry  on  its  affairs.  The 
marine  board  held  its  sessions  in  Baltimore,  where  the 
entire  personnel  of  Congress  was  accommodated,  with 
the  exception  of  the  affluent  Hancock,  "who  hired  a 
whole  house  to  himself,"  but  took  this  opportunity 
to  abandon  his  labors  as  president  of  the  governing 
body  to  journey  off  to  Boston  to  see  "his  dear  Dolly," 
from  whom  he  declared  he  could  not  bear  to  be  sep- 
arated. 

John  Adams,  at  this  juncture,  was  also  an  absentee, 
having  rejoined  his  Portia  for  the  three  months'  va- 
cation which  Congress  had  allowed  him.  Although 
Washington  in  his  truly  desperate  state  had  antici- 
pated an  attack  upon  Philadelphia,  John  Cadwalader, 
the  commander  of  the  excellent  body  of  Philadelphia 
militia  called  the  "Silk  Stocking  Brigade,"  was  furious 
at  the  departure  of  Congress,  and  wrote  indignantly 
to  Morris  of  what  he  considered  its  premature  and 
cowardly  flight.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Morris  himself 
was  almost  the  only  one  who  did  not  merit  Cadwala- 
der's  reproaches.  He  sent  his  library  to  the  country 
and  his  wife  to  his  relatives  in  Baltimore,  and  set 
himself  to  the  truly  titanic  task  of  directing  alone 
and  unaided  the  affairs  of  the  disorganized  govern- 
ment. 

Bending  over  this  forge  where  new  forces  were  to 
be  hammered  out  from  the  chaotic  elements  of  a  dis- 
rupted and  newly  forming  civilization,  he  gave  every- 


158  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

thing  which  he  was  and  owned  to  the  cause  of  human 
liberty. 

A  letter,  written  just  four  days  before  the  unlooked- 
for  victory  of  Trenton  illumined  what  had  hitherto 
been  unrelieved  darkness  and  discouragement,  gives 
a  picture  detailed  and  even  humorous  of  the  unique 
situation  in  which  he  found  himself: 

The  sudden  departure  of  Congress  from  this  place, 
seems  to  be  a  matter  of  much  speculation,  and  people 
who  judge  of  events,  think  they  have  been  too  pre- 
cipitate; be  that  as  it  may,  many  things  are  thrown 
into  great  confusion  by  it,  and  I  find  ample  employ- 
ment in  applying  remidies  when  I  can.  The  unfin- 
ished business  of  the  Maritime  and  Secret  Committees 
I  intend  to  confine  myself  to,  but  I  hear  so  many  com- 
plaints and  see  so  much  confusion  from  other  quarters, 
that  I  am  obliged  to  advise  in  things  not  committed 
to  me.  Much  money  is  wanted.  The  Militia  is  at 
last  turning  out.  There  was  the  greatest  scene  of  con- 
fusion in  the  management  of  the  Continental  horses, 
wagons  and  expresses  that  was  ever  exhibited.  Bad 
enough  before  Congress  departed,  it  is  ten  times  worse 
now,  and  Jacob  Hittzeimer,  a  very  honest  man,  will 
run  mad  soon  if  not  properly  assisted. 

The  "much  money"  was  sent  on  to  Washington  in 
packages  of  hard  coin  from  Morris's  own  coffers,  and 
in  this  and  in  every  other  imaginable  way  he  labored 
with  indefatigable  energy  and  unruffled  optimism  over 
his  task.  It  must  have  been  a  dreary  enough  time  for 
every  member  of  the  Patriot  party,  and  Philadelphia 
sadly  changed  from  the  abode  of  "quiet  peace  and 
elegant  hospitality"  which  Adams  had  found  it  during 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  159 

those  inspiring  early  sessions  of  Congress.  The  city 
was  half  empty,  inhabited  only  by  the  neutral  Quakers 
in  their  neutral-tinted  garb,  its  gloomy  streets  dis- 
turbed occasionally  by  the  arrival  of  wagon-loads  of 
wounded  Hessians  and  the  pale  ranks  of  those  wretched 
American  prisoners  discharged  at  last  from  Howe's 
prison  ships  in  New  York  Bay  and  sent  to  the  "Bet- 
tering Houses"  for  their  long  convalescence. 

Panic-stricken  and  disorganized,  the  fugitive  mem- 
bers of  Congress  decided  to  give  unlimited  control  to 
the  few  men  who  had  demonstrated  their  willingness 
and  capacity  to  assume  responsibility  in  their  various 
departments.  They  invested  Washington  with  the  pow- 
ers of  a  dictator,  made  Morris  administrative  head 
of  Philadelphia,  and  intended  by  the  unlimited  orders 
given  to  Paul  Jones  to  make  him  the  virtual  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  navy.  So  far  had  this  nameless 
Scotchman  advanced  in  the  councils  of  America.  He 
had  well  merited  the  honor.  If  Morris,  out  of  his  full 
coffers,  had  subsidized  the  penniless  government  and 
clothed  the  army  of  Washington,  Jones,  from  his  little 
fortune,  had  paid  off  the  crews  of  his  ships  and  lent 
the  remainder  of  his  available  funds  to  the  government. 
If  Washington,  realizing  the  only  method  of  warfare 
possible  to  his  wretched  handful  of  troops,  had  by  his 
masterly  retreats  and  delays  gained  the  title  of  the 
American  Fabius,  Paul  Jones,  with  equal  wisdom  and 
a  like  courage  in  desperate  emergencies,  had  proposed 
and  carried  out  the  only  method  of  naval  warfare  pos- 
sible to  the  marine  forces  of  the  colonists.  By  rapid 
descents  upon  the  unprotected  coasts  of  the  enemy 


160  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

with  his  fast-sailing  little  ships,  he  won  in  his  brill- 
iant cruises  the  only  victories  possible  over  the  mari- 
time forces  of  England. 

When  he  came  to  Philadelphia  in  the  spring  of  this 
unhappy  year  he  found  himself  in  the  centre  of  a  con- 
flicting atmosphere  of  praise  and  blame — friends  who 
wished  to  put  him  at  the  head  of  the  fleet,  and  foes 
who  had  disgraced  him  by  the  insult  of  his  glaringly 
unjust  supersedure.  The  emotions  aroused  by  such 
extraordinary  contrasts  in  the  manner  and  degree  of 
his  recognition  might  easily  have  bewildered  an  older 
man  and  a  native  American.  He  tried  with  evident 
modesty  and  a  controlling  fidelity  to  the  common 
cause  to  find  his  way  among  these  warring  elements. 
He  waited  on  Hancock,  he  visited  Morris,  he  appeared 
before  the  marine  committee,  who  were  once  more  re- 
turned to  Philadelphia  with  the  returning  members 
of  Congress.  The  scattered  elements  of  the  govern- 
ment were  once  more  coalescing  at  its  seat,  and  on 
the  27th  of  February  were  again  assembled  in  Phila- 
delphia with  various  absentee  members  still  to  be 
heard  from.  Hancock  had  by  this  time  journeyed 
back  from  Boston  and  wrote  immediately,  on  the  10th 
of  March,  for  his  wife,  telling  her  that  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington had  already  arrived.  Adams  sent  also  for  his 
Portia,  and  Mrs.  Morris,  returning  also,  opened  her 
house  on  Front  Street,  and  the  little  Republican  Court 
was  again  assembled. 

Hope  dawned  again  as  the  spring  days  arrived,  and 
no  further  overwhelming  disaster  came  to  keep  the 
pleasure-loving  Philadelphians  from  their  racing,  their 


SUPERSEDURE  IN  RANK  161 

card-playing,  and  their  truly  magnificent  feasts.  It 
is  strange  to  read  that  when  dark  days  came  again  to 
the  patriot  cause,  in  the  winter  of  1778,  when  the 
enemy  was  really  in  possession  of  the  capital  and  Wash- 
ington was  grimly  standing  guard  at  Valley  Forge, 
that  a  wild  reign  of  extravagance  and  even  immo- 
rality ran  its  strange  course  in  Philadelphia.  All 
distinction  and  party  feelings  were  submerged  in  the 
friendly  relations  which  existed  between  the  British 
soldiers  and  the  colonial  dames  of  that  city.  A  curious 
condition  of  affairs  obtained  which  well  might  have 
aroused  the  indignation  of  Washington.  Hundreds  of 
pounds  were  spent  nightly  for  suppers  and  dances  where 
both  Tory  and  Whig  ladies  mingled  gayly  with  the 
enemies  of  their  country.  It  is  not  to  be  imagined 
that  Paul  Jones,  elegant  as  he  afterward  became  in  his 
dress  and  manners  after  he  had  won  his  laurels  in 
European  waters  and  his  sword  at  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles, was  part  of  the  aristocratic  circle  of  Philadelphia 
during  the  brief  period  of  his  visit  there  in  the  spring 
of  1777.  Social  ambition  became  later  a  part  of  his  life 
in  a  way  both  marked  and  undeniable,  but  at  this  mo- 
ment he  was  far  more  soldier  than  courtier,  and  was 
wholly  absorbed  in  the  strenuous  business  of  the  hour. 
His  own  personal  grievances  did  not  at  this  time  rise 
to  the  surface  or  become  the  supreme  preoccupation  of 
his  mind.  He  placed  himself  and  his  services  with- 
out reserve  or  complaint  at  the  disposition  of  the 
marine  committee. 

That  Congress  should  have  been  unable  to  prevent 
the  ignoble  jealousy  of  the  disgraced  commander-in- 


162  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

chief  of  the  navy,  or  circumvent  its  effect  in  regard  to 
Jones,  was  a  calamity  the  extent  of  which  is  hard  to 
estimate.  What  his  genius  and  courage  might  have  ac- 
complished at  this  critical  time,  had  it  been  given  full 
opportunity,  can  never  be  calculated.  The  manner  in 
which  he  carried  out  his  instructions,  and  the  no  less 
astounding  results  he  accomplished  with  the  inadequate 
means  at  his  command,  cause  never-ending  regret  for 
the  great  plans  which  were  conceived  in  his  brain  and 
laid  unavailingly  before  a  vacillating  and  impotent 
government.  If  Lee's  treacherous  scheming  and  the 
Conway  cabal  had  dethroned  Washington  from  his 
place  at  the  head  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  the  tale  of 
America's  struggle  for  independence  might  have  been 
strangely  altered.  Yet  a  naval  genius  of  the  first  order 
was  kept  from  the  command  of  the  maritime  forces 
of  the  nation,  and  at  the  most  critical  period  of  its 
existence. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY 

In  the  first  volume  of  a  work  by  A.  C.  Buell,  en- 
titled "Paul  Jones,  Founder  of  the  American  Navy/' 
the  author  prints  a  long  document,  attributed  to  the 
pen  of  Jones,  containing  an  elaborate  plan  in  regard 
to  the  establishment  and  regulation  of  the  navy. 
This  document  has  gained  the  widest  currency  and 
has  been  generally  accepted  as  authentic.  High  au- 
thorities have  declared  it  to  be  the  "moral  and  intel- 
lectual charter  of  Annapolis,"  and  have  stated  that 
Jones's  glorious  reputation  rests  upon  this  endur- 
ing foundation  rather  than  upon  the  memory  of 
his  immortal  battles.  With  the  exception  of  one 
brief  and  garbled  passage  taken  from  the  letter  of 
Jones  to  Hewes  of  April  14,  1776,  this  document  is  a 
fabrication  as  remarkable  for  its  skill  as  for  its  well- 
nigh  universal  acceptance.  Mr.  Buell  asserts  that 
it  was  written  at  the  request  of  the  "first  marine 
committee,"  which  assembled  on  June  the  14th, 
1775.  The  account  of  the  formation  of  the  commit- 
tee which  was  actually  appointed  by  Congress,  as 
given  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  this  volume,  is  based 
upon  the  official  records  in  Washington.  These  rec- 
ords absolutely  disprove  the  statements  of  Buell. 
Internal   evidences  are  also  present  in  the   alleged 

163 


164  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

document  which  discredit  its  authenticity  in  every  par- 
ticular. It  has,  however,  been  so  frequently  quoted 
as  the  foundation  of  Jones's  right  to  be  called  the 
"Founder  of  the  American  Navy"  that  it  is  important 
at  this  point  in  his  history  to  assemble  his  actual 
writings  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  the  marine. 

In  the  four  years  of  his  service  in  the  navy  of  the 
Revolution  he  gave  repeated  and  brilliant  examples  of 
his  theory  of  the  kind  of  naval  warfare  best  adapted 
to  the  forces  of  the  colonies.  Although  he  entered 
upon  his  duties  with  becoming  modesty,  he  soon  dis- 
covered that  he  was  the  only  officer  in  the  service 
who  was  capable  of  formulating  effective  plans  for  the 
improvement  of  the  navy.  He  immediately  began  to 
shape  his  ideas  into  practical  suggestions  calculated  to 
bring  order  out  of  the  utterly  chaotic  conditions  which 
existed  in  the  government  at  Philadelphia  and  which 
were  ludicrously  exemplified  by  the  entirely  inefficient 
commander  of  the  fleet.  His  knowledge  of  the  rules 
and  standards  of  the  British  navy  was  brought  to  bear 
with  a  proper  regard  for  the  differing  conditions  in  the 
colonies.  His  long  experience  in  the  merchant  service 
and  as  a  commander  of  armed  vessels  in  the  slave- 
trade  had  given  him  an  extensive  and  practical  knowl- 
edge of  seamanship  which  also  assisted  him  in  his 
conclusions.  These  suggestions  were  distinguished  by 
notable  common-sense,  and  showed  a  cool  and  dis- 
criminating judgment,  remarkable  foresight,  and  a 
grasp,  both  wide  and  accurate,  of  the  great  subject 
and  of  the  greater  enterprise  in  which  he  was  engaged. 

Following  the  legislation  which  established  a  naval 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       165 

committee  and  resolved  upon  the  organization  of  a  na- 
tional maritime  force,  Congress,  on  November  the  2d, 
voted  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of 
four  ships,  and  empowered  the  naval  committee  to  en- 
gage officers  and  seamen,  fixing  their  "encouragement" 
at  one-half  of  all  ships  of  war  made  prizes  by  them  and 
one-third  of  all  transport  vessels.  On  the  10th  Con- 
gress ordered  the  organization  of  a  marine  corps,  and 
on  the  23d  a  draft  of  rules  for  the  organization  of  the 
American  navy  and  articles  to  be  signed  by  the  offi- 
cers and  seamen  was  drawn  up  by  John  Adams  and 
laid  before  Congress,  which  forthwith  adopted  them 
after  discussion  of  the  several  articles.  A  penal  code 
and  a  regulation  for  the  establishment  of  courts- 
martial  were  also  adopted,  as  well  as  regulations  for 
the  rations  of  seamen  and  the  conduct  of  religious 
services.  Only  two  grades  of  commissioned  officers 
were  adopted,  a  captain  and  a  lieutenant,  and  five 
marine  officers,  the  highest  of  which  was  a  captain. 
The  minor  officers  were  master,  master's  mate,  boat- 
swain, boatswain's  first  and  second  mate,  gunner,  gun- 
ner's mate,  carpenter,  carpenter's  mate,  cooper,  cap- 
tain's clerk,  steward,  and  chaplain.  A  pay-table  and 
contract  of  enlistment  were  also  decreed.  These  rules 
were  adopted  in  an  abridged  form  from  the  British 
naval  statutes  in  force  in  1775.  These,  in  brief,  were 
the  regulations  of  the  navy  when  Jones  was  given  his 
commission.  When  he  was  serving  as  lieutenant  on 
the  Alfred,  in  the  first  cruise  of  the  fleet  under  Hopkins, 
and  later  when  he  was  in  command  of  the  Providence, 
he  communicated  a  record  of  his  acts  and  his  com- 
ments upon  the  conduct  of  affairs  by  his  superior 


166  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

officers  to  Joseph  Hewes.  In  September  of  that  year 
(1776),  after  the  naval  committee  had  given  place  to 
the  larger  marine  committee  or  marine  board,  he  began 
a  correspondence  with  Robert  Morris,  who  had  be- 
come a  member  of  that  body  and  was  its  vice-president 
and  actual  head.  Morris  was  also  at  this  time  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  by  virtue  of  the  large 
fortune  which  he  put  at  the  disposition  of  the  well- 
nigh  penniless  government  was  not  only  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  but  the  treasury  itself.  Hewes  had 
informed  Jones  that  Morris  had  issued,  at  his  sugges- 
tion and  for  Jones's  particular  "honor  and  advantage," 
the  orders  for  his  first  independent  cruise  on  the  Prov- 
idence. Jones  soon  after  addressed  Morris  in  a  letter 
which  is  the  first  of  a  series  in  which  he  presented  to 
the  head  of  the  marine  committee  his  ideas  in  regard 
to  the  improvement  of  the  regulations  in  the  navy. 
Although  Jones's  relation  with  Morris  was  begun  and 
largely  carried  on  in  letters,  and  never  characterized 
by  the  intimacy  which  he  enjoyed  with  Joseph  Hewes, 
Morris  was  very  quick  to  recognize  the  brilliant  gifts 
and  accomplishments  of  his  correspondent  and  ably 
advocated  his  advancement  at  every  opportunity. 
Jones  naturally  considered  a  friendship  with  this  all- 
powerful  man  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance,  and 
characteristically  made  a  voluntary  reference  to  the 
killing  of  the  mutineer  in  Tobago,  desiring  that  that 
friendship  should  be  marred  by  no  reserve  of  confi- 
dence or  failure  in  frankness. 

The  first  letter  is  written  from  the  Providence,  at 
sea,  a  few  weeks  after  Hopkins  had  assigned  him  to 
that  command: 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       167 

Providence,  At  Sea,  September  4th,  1776. 
To  the  Honorable  Robert  Morris. 
Honored  Sir : — 
I  herewith  enclose  for  your  inspection  all  the  let- 
ters and  papers  which  I  found  in  the  brigantine  Sea 
Nymph.  For  the  particulars  of  the  cruise  hitherto  I 
must  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  the  within  open  letter 
to  the  Marine  Board,  which  please  to  lay  before  them. 
I  purpose  to  stand  to  the  southward  in  the  hopes  of 
falling  in  with  some  ships  which  I  understand  are  now 
on  their  passage  from  Barbadoes.  But  at  this  late 
date  my  success  is  very  uncertain.  I  will  however 
ply  about  in  this  meridian  as  long  as  I  think  I  have 
any  chance,  and  if  I  fail  at  last  I  can  run  to  the  north- 
ward and  try  for  better  success  among  the  fishermen 
which  (I  will)  may  answer  no  bad  purpose  by  increas- 
ing the  number  of  our  seamen.  However  my  cruise 
may  terminate,  I  forget  not  the  singular  obligation  I 
owe  to  Mr.  Morris  who  promised  it  for  my  honor  and 
advantage.  And  I  esteem  the  honor  done  me  by  his 
accepting  my  correspondence  as  the  (most)  greatest 
favor  I  could  have  aspired  to.  I  conclude  that  Mr. 
Hewes  had  acquainted  you  with  a  very  great  misfort- 
une which  befell  me  some  years  ago,  and  which  brought 
me  into  North  America.  (The  best  man  may  soon 
become  equally  or  far  more  unfortunate,  therefore  I 
will  spare  you  the  pain  of  repeating  it  here.)  I  am 
under  no  concern  whatever  that  this  or  any  past  cir- 
cumstances of  my  life  will  sink  me  in  your  opinion. 
Since  (human  foresight)  human  Wisdom  cannot  se- 
cure us  from  accidents,  it  is  the  greatest  effort  of 
(Human)  reason  to  bear  them  all.  I  will  from  time 
to  time  carefully  communicate  to  you  every  intelli- 
gence in  my  power,  and  as  the  regulations  of  the  Navy 
are  of  the  utmost  consequence,  you  will  not  think  it 
presumptuous  if  with  the  utmost  diffidence  I  venture 
to  communicate  to  you  such  hints  as  in  my  humble 


168  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

opinion  will  (appear  wise)  promote  its  Honor  and 
the  good  of  the  Government.  I  could  heartily  wish 
that  every  Commission  Officer  were  to  be  previously 
examined  for  to  my  certain  knowledge,  there  are  per- 
sons who  have  already  crept  into  Commission  without 
abilities  or  fit  qualifications.  I  am  myself  far  from 
desiring  to  be  excused  through  (my)  experience  in 
ours,  as  well  as  from  my  former  intimacy  with  many 
officers  of  note  in  the  British  Navy,  I  am  convinced 
that  the  parity  of  rank  between  sea  and  land  or  ma- 
rine officers  is  of  more  consequence  to  the  harmony 
of  the  service  than  has  generally  been  imagined.  In 
the  British  Establishment  an  Admiral  ranks  with  a 
General,  a  Vice-Admiral  with  a  Lieutenant-General,  a 
Rear  Admiral  with  a  Major-General,  a  Commodore 
with  a  Brigadier  General,  a  Captain  with  a  Colonel, 
a  Master  and  Commander  with  a  Lieutenant  Colonel; 
a  Lieutenant  commanding  with  a  Major,  and  a  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  Navy  ranks  with  a  Captain  of  Horse 
Marines.  I  propose  not  our  Enemies  as  example  for 
general  imitation,  yet  as  their  navy  is  the  best  regu- 
lated of  any  in  the  world,  we  must  in  some  degree 
imitate  them  and  aim  at  such  further  improvement 
as  may  one  day  make  ours  vie  with  and  exceed  theirs. 
Were  that  regulation  to  take  place  in  our  Navy  it 
would  prevent  numberless  disputes  and  duellings  which 
otherwise  would  be  unavoidable;  besides  Sir,  you  know 
very  well  that  Marine  officers  being  utterly  unac- 
quainted with  maritime  affairs,  are  in  those  cases  unfit 
persons  to  preside  at  or  compose  half  the  number  of 
a  court  martial.  I  beg  pardon  for  this  liberty.  I 
thought  that  such  hints  might  escape  your  memory 
in  the  multiplicity  of  business.  I  have  always  under- 
stood the  sentence  of  a  Court  Martial  when  confirmed 
by  a  Commander  in  Chief  was  definite  and  admitted 
of  no  appeal.  To  prove  this  I  must  again  recur  to 
English  authority.    In  the  case  of  Lord  George  Sack- 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       169 

ville  who  for  disobeying  the  orders  of  Prince  Ferdi- 
nand at  the  battle  of  Minden  was  broke  by  a  Court 
(Martial)  Martial  held  at  the  horse  Guards,  and  ren- 
dered incapable  of  serving  afterwards  in  any  military 
capacity,  although  his  great  abilities  were  then  well 
known  and  are  generally  acknowledged  at  this  day. 
I  am  led  into  this  subject  by  hearing  with  astonish- 
ment the  application  and  complaint  of  the  late  Cap- 
tain Hazard  to  the  Marine  Board  after  he  had  been 
found  unworthy  of  bearing  his  commission  in  the  Navy 
by  the  undivided  voice  of  a  court  Martial  where  I  had 
the  honor  to  sit  as  a  member.  If  he  was  then  unwor- 
thy of  bearing  his  commission  I  cannot  see  what  new 
merit  he  can  have  acquired,  and  even  if  he  had  merit 
it  would  not  be  sound  policy  to  reverse  the  sentence; 
it  would  make  officers  stand  less  in  awe  and  attend  less 
punctually  to  their  duty,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
it  might  induce  future  Court  Martials  in  some  cases 
to  inflict  personal  punishment  from  whence  there  is 
no  appeal.  There  was  a  mistake  made  in  the  date  of 
my  commission  which  unless  you  stand  my  friend  will 
make  a  material  difference  when  the  Navy  rank  is 
settled.  I  took  command  here  the  10th  of  May,  as 
appears  on  the  order  and  appointment  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief as  the  back  of  my  commission  as 
eldest  lieutenant  of  the  fleet,  and  my  commission  as 
captain  is  not  dated  until  the  eighth  day  of  August, 
which  you  know  is  not  fair,  as  it  would  subject  me  to 
be  superseded  by  Captain  Robinson  who  was  at  first 
my  junior  officer  by  six —  Perhaps  it  might  subject  me 
to  be  superseded  by  others.  If  I  have  deserved  so  ill 
as  to  be  superseded,  I  am  unworthy  of  bearing  my 
commission  (I  have  been  held  in  some  estimation 
among  my  fellow  mortals)  I  esteem  it  a  greater  dis- 
grace and  severer  punishment  than  (it  would)  to  be 
fairly  broke  and  dismissed  the  service.    I  have  or- 


170  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

dered  Mr.  Chapkins  the  prize  master  to  deliver  you 
a  turtle,  which  please  to  accept.    I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  with  grateful  esteem  and  much  respect, 
Honored  Sir, 
Your  very  obliged  and  very  obedient  humble  servant, 

J.  P.  J. 

This  letter  is  printed  from  the  original  autograph 
draft  in  the  collection  of  Jones's  MSS.  at  Washing- 
ton, and  shows  in  the  number  of  corrections  and  inter- 
lineations the  degree  of  care  he  expended  upon  it. 
In  a  later  letter  to  Morris,  he  makes  further  sugges- 
tions in  regard  to  the  necessity  of  remodelling  the 
rules  of  conducting  a  court-martial  after  the  customs 
prevailing  in  the  British  service.  "Seamen  should  be 
registered  and  made  subject  to  three  years  time,  or 
for  as  long  a  time  as  possible — I  wish  also  that  our 
manner  of  Courts  Martial  were  as  I  have  known  them 
in  England — No  Marine  Officers  were  entitled  to  as- 
sist, except  where  their  men  were  concerned,  and  that 
too  where  they  had  been  on  duty  as  Soldiers  on  the 
land,  that  Senior  Captains,  where  there  is  no  Admiral, 
should  be  authorized  to  summon  Courts  Martial  and 
that  whenever  Five  or  more  Captains  are  present  no 
Lieutenant  should  be  authorized  to  assist.  These  are 
only  my  private  sentiments."1 

Six  weeks  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  when  Jones 
had  successfully  completed  his  first  cruise  and  was 
again  at  anchor  in  Newport  harbor,  with  opportuni- 

1 A  fragment  of  a  letter  of  December  11,  1777,  in  Jones's  handwriting 
and  bearing  the  address  "to  the  Honbl  Robert  Morris,"  also  in  his  hand- 
writing. The  date  and  the  name  of  Jones  as  the  writer  is  added  under 
the  address  in  another  hand.  This  fragment,  pasted  into  a  copy  of 
Sand's  "Life  of  John  Paul  Jones,"  is  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       171 

ties  to  view  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  fleet,  he 
wrote  again  to  Morris.  This  letter  is  in  matter  as 
well  as  manner  the  most  notable  of  the  series.  Lucid, 
earnest,  and  unaffected,  he  here  reaches  his  highest 
point  of  expression  and  attains  that  style  of  "pure 
and  strenuous  eloquence"  praised  by  Disraeli  in  the 
life  which  the  great  Englishman  wrote  in  defence  of 
our  naval  hero.  Inspired  with  the  noblest  enthusiasm 
for  the  cause  of  human  liberty,  seriously  and  unself- 
ishly aware  of  his  own  unusual  responsibilities  in  the 
struggle  of  his  adopted  country,  he  here  shows  those 
qualities  revealed  only  by  the  truly  great  in  the  mo- 
mentous crises  of  human  history: 

Providence  Sloop  of  War  at  Newport 
Rhode  Island,  17th  October  1776. 
Honored  Sir: — 

I  wrote  you  at  sea  the  4th  ult.  of  the  brigantine 
Sea  Nymph  second  price.  I  have  taken  sixteen  sail, 
manned  and  sent  in  eight  prizes,  and  sunk  burnt  and 
destroyed  the  rest.    The  list  of  prizes  is  as  follows: — 


1 — The  Brigantine  Britania — whaler 

2       "            "         Sea  Nymph,  West  Indies 

3—  "            "          Favorite 

4.    The  Ship  Alexander,  New  Foundland 

manned  and 

5 — The  Brigantine  Success 

sent   in 

6 —  "                       Kingston  Packet,  Jamaica 

7 —  "                       Defiance,  Jersey 

8    Sloop  Portland — whaler 

1 — The  Ship  Adventure,  Jersey 

2 — The  Brigantine  Friendship 

3 — The  Schooner  John,  London 

Burnt  or  other- 

4. -The  Schooner  Sea  Flower— Canso 

wise  destroyed. 

5.  -  "           "        Ebenezer,  Canso 

6 — The  Schooner  Hope,  Jersey 

172  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

I  have  written  from  time  to  time  to  the  Marine 
Board  and  furnished  them  with  a  particular  account 
of  my  proceedings,  and  I  now  send  copies  of  my  for- 
mer letters.  I  arrived  here  7th  instant.  I  would  not 
have  lost  a  day  without  writing  you  and  to  the  Board 
had  not  the  Commodore  proposed  to  me  to  take  com- 
mand of  an  expedition  with  the  Alfred,  Providence  and 
Hampden,  to  destroy  the  fisheries  of  New  Foundland, 
but  principally  to  relieve  a  hundred  of  the  fellow  citi- 
zens who  are  detained  as  prisoners  and  slaves  in  the 
coal  pits  of  Cape  Breton.  All  my  humanity  was 
awakened  and  called  up  to  action  by  the  laudable 
proposal,  and  I  have  been  successfully  employed  in 
refitting  and  getting  the  Providence  in  readiness,  but 
am  under  the  greatest  apprehension  that  the  expedi- 
tion will  fall  to  nothing  as  the  Alfred  is  greatly  short 
of  men,  and  we  have  with  much  ado  enlisted  thirty 
more;  but  it  seems  the  privateers  entice  them  away  as 
fast  as  they  receive  their  months  pay.  It  is  to  the 
last  degree  distressing  to  contemplate  the  state  and 
establishment  of  our  navy.  The  common  class  of  men 
are  actuated  by  no  nobler  principles  than  that  of  self 
interest;  this,  and  this  alone  determines  all  adventures 
in  privateers,  the  owners  as  well  as  those  whom  they 
employ.  And  while  this  is  the  case,  unless  the  pri- 
vate emoluments  of  individuals  in  our  Navy  is  made 
superior  to  that  in  Privateers,  it  never  can  become 
respectable.  And  without  a  respectable  Navy— alas! 
America!  In  the  present  critical  state  of  affairs,  hu- 
man wisdom  can  suggest  no  more  than  one  infallible 
expedient;  enlist  the  seamen  during  pleasure  and  give 
them  all  the  prizes.  What  is  the  paltry  emolument 
of  two-thirds  of  prizes  to  the  finances  of  this  vast 
continent!  If  so  poor  a  resource  is  essential  to  its 
independency,  in  sober  sadness  we  are  involved  in  a 
woeful  predicament,  and  our  ruin  is  fast  approaching. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       173 

The  situation  of  America  is  new  in  the  annals  of  man- 
kind; her  affairs  cry,  haste  and  speed  must  answer 
them.  Trifles,  therefore,  ought  to  be  wholly  disre- 
garded, as  being  in  the  old  vulgar  phrase  "penny  wise 
and  pound  foolish."  If  our  enemies  with  the  best  es- 
tablished and  most  formidable  Navy  in  the  universe 
have  found  it  expedient  to  assign  all  prizes  to  the  cap- 
tors, how  much  more  is  such  policy  essential  to  our 
infant  fleet;  but  I  need  use  no  arguments  to  convince 
you  of  the  necessity  of  making  the  emolument  of  our 
Navy  equal  if  not  superior  to  theirs.  We  have  had 
proof  that  a  Navy  may  be  officered  almost  on  any 
terms,  but  we  are  not  so  sure  that  these  officers  are 
equal  to  their  commissions;  nor  will  the  Congress  ever 
obtain  such  certainty  until  they,  in  their  wisdom,  see 
proper  to  appoint  a  Board  of  Admiralty,  competent 
to  determine  impartially  the  respective  merits  and 
abilities  of  their  officers,  and  to  superintend,  regulate 
and  point  out  all  the  motions  and  operations  of  the 
Navy.  Gov.  Hopkins  tells  me  that  he  apprehends  I 
am  appointed  to  the  Andrew  Doria;  she  is  a  good 
cruiser  and  would  in  my  judgment  answer  much  bet- 
ter were  she  mounted  with  twelve  six-pounders  than 
as  she  is  at  present  with  fourteen  fours.  An  expedi- 
tion of  importance  may  be  expected  this  winter  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  with  part  of  the  original  fleet.  Either 
the  Alfred  or  Columbus  with  the  Andrew  Doria  and 
Providence  would,  I  am  persuaded,  carry  all  before 
them,  and  give  a  blow  to  the  English  African  trade 
which  would  not  be  soon  recovered,  by  not  leaving 
them  a  mast  standing  on  that  coast.  This  expedition 
would  be  attended  with  no  great  expense;  besides  the 
ships  and  vessels  mentioned  are  unfit  for  service  in  a 
winter  coast,  which  is  not  the  case  with  the  new  frigates. 
The  small  squadron  for  this  service  ought  to  sail  early, 
that  the  prizes  may  reach  our  ports  in  March  or  April. 


174  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

If  I  do  not  succeed  in  manning  the  Alfred  so  as  to 
proceed  to  the  eastward  in  the  course  of  this  week, 
the  season  will  be  lost;  the  cod  fleet  will  be  gone  to 
Halifax,  and  the  fishermen  to  Europe.  I  will  not, 
however,  remain  inactive,  but  proceed  to  cruise  in 
the  sloop  near  Sandy  Hook.  Three  of  my  prizes  have 
arrived  here  and  one  or  two  to  the  eastward. 
I  am  and  so  forth. 

J.  P.  J. 

Ten  days  after  writing  this  letter  he  set  forth  on  his 
second  northern  cruise,  but  before  departing  he  sent, 
on  October  31,  an  intimate  letter  to  his  friend  Hewes, 
deploring  the  unorganized  condition  of  the  navy  and 
saying  that  he  had  "waited  long  and  impatiently  for 
the  production  of  some  abler  pen,  but  was  now  no  bet- 
ter satisfied  than  at  the  beginning."  He  urged  again 
the  necessity  of  establishing  an  "impartial  Board  of 
Admiralty  competent  to  determine  the  merits  and 
abilities  of  every  officer  and  to  superintend  regulate 
and  direct  every  out  fit  and  operation  of  the  Marine 
forces  which  would  soon  give  firmness  and  stability 
to  our  fleet  and  make  it  formidable  even  to  Great 
Britain."  He  continued  his  communications  to  his 
friend  Morris  in  a  series  of  official  reports  to  the 
marine  committee,  which  were  addressed  primarily  to 
Morris  as  its  chairman  and  thereafter  communicated 
to  the  other  members.  After  his  return  to  Boston, 
on  the  12th  of  January,  he  sent  a  private  letter  to 
Morris,  criticising  very  sharply  the  blundering  regu- 
lations which  were  still  in  force  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  prize-money  through  the  fleet. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       175 

Boston  Jan  12th.  1777 
Honored  Sir. 

I  am  happy  in  this  opportunity  of  thanking  you  for 
the  kind  and  favourable  mention  which  Mr.  Living- 
ston informs  me  you  have  made  of  my  former  letters. 
Should  Mr.  H.  be  at  present  absent  from  Congress, 
I  must  beg  you  to  look  over  the  Inclosed  letters  for 
him  before  you  forward  them.  Should  the  expedition 
Spoke  of  in  my  last  to  you  be  put  in  execution — as  it 
may  take  up  eight  months  or  upwards,  and  as  the 
Season  is  now  so  far  advanced,  it  will  be  most  advis- 
able to  Set  out  early  in  the  Spring  so  that  the  Prizes 
may  reach  the  Continent  in  the  beginning  of  the  en- 
suing Winter.  I  need  not  observe  to  you  that  Secrecy 
is  Above  all  things  to  be  attended  to  in  every  expedi- 
tion. None  beside  the  Principle  in  Command  ought 
to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  plan  or  destination. 
The  bounty  offered  by  the  Artillery  who  are  enlisted 
here  being  from  26  to  36  pounds  lawful  money  for 
three  years'  Service  induces  all  the  Seamen  to  Enter. 
The  Seamen  have  been  Very  ill  used  and  the  Navy 
hath  been  much  hurted  by  the  Cursed  (?)  Association 
for  the  Joint  Share  of  Prize  Money  thro'  the  Fleet 
whither  present  at  the  Capture  or  Absent.  The  Gen- 
try who  set  that  Agreement  on  Foot  and  who  carried 
it  thro'  the  Fleet  at  Rudy  Island  have  take  Care  to 
keep  out  of  harm's  way  themselves  ever  since  our  Grand 
Affair  with  the  Glasgow.  Nay,  one  of  those  Arch 
Patriots,  when  ordered  to  Philadelphia,  told  the  Com- 
modore, who  repeated  it  to  me,  that  if  the  other  two 
were  willing  himself  would  agree  to  be  Broke  if  the 
Congress  would  Allow  them  half  pay.  The  same  Gen- 
tleman kept  his  Ship  Eight  months  in  Providence 
River  and  then  left  her  with  a  Fished  Main  Mast  and 
only  one  Common  Pump  that  would  work.  But  we 
surely  can  never  have  a  Navy  under  good  discipline 


176  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

or  well  Manned  Until  Some  effectual  expedient  is 
Adopted  to  induce  the  Seamen  to  enter  of  an  unlimited 
time.  Perhaps  it  might  answer  if  the  Seamen  in  Amer- 
ica were  Numbered  and  formed  into  a  certain  Number 
of  Classes  Subject  to  Serve  in  their  turns — but  the 
most  infallible  method  is  to  give  them  All  they  Take. 
I  will  add  Something  more  as  I  shall  have  Another 
Opportunity  in  a  day  or  two. 

I  have  the  Honor  to  be  with  Grateful  Esteem  and 
Respect, 

Sir, 
Your  truely  obliged 
Very  Humble  Servant, 

J.  P.  J. 
The  Honble.  R.  M. 

N.  B. — If  you  please  to  look  over  the  inclosed  copy 
of  my  letter  to  the  Council  here,  and  of  their  Answer 
or  rather  Order  to  me,  you  will  see  the  treatment 
which  I  have  had  from  that  House.  I  wish  to  know 
whither  they  Ought  or  Ought  not  to  Assume  Authority 
over  the  Navy, 

Endorsed:  Copy  of  a  letter  to  the 
Honble.  R.  Morris,  Esqr. 
by  Express  from  Council. 

Four  days  after  this  letter  he  wrote  again  to  Morris, 
enlarging  upon  the  manifest  injustice  and  unfortunate 
results  of  the  prize-money  regulation,  and  expressing 
the  greatest  sympathy  for  the  pitiable  condition  of 
the  seamen: 

Boston,  Jany.  16,  1777. 
Honored  Sir: — 

As  I  am  not  well  assured  of  your  having  received 
my  first  letter  in  the  Providence — I  have  taken  the 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       177 

liberty  of  inclosing  a  Copy. — I  must  here  asurt  that 
it  is  both  unjust  and  inimical  to  the  interest  of  the  ser- 
vice that  any  person  or  persons  belonging  to  the  Navy 
should  share  in  prizes  when  they  were  themselves 
absent  and  out  of  harms  way  when  the  Capture  was 
made.  By  this  Unprecedented  association,  which  was 
effected  by  Fellows  who  have  consulted  their  Personal 
safety  ever  since,  the  Navy  hath  received  more  real 
injury  than  the  sum  total  of  all  the  benefit  which  hath 
accrued  from  their  past,  or  which  is  likely  to  accrue 
from  their  future  services — for  prize-money  is  thereby 
become  so  very  intricate  and  perplexed  that  the  great- 
est part  of  the  seamen  desisted  immediately  after  their 
return  from  New  Providence,  and  those  poor  fellows 
who  have  faithfully  served  the  term  of  their  Enlist- 
ment are  detered  from  re-Entering  as  they  have  not 
rec'd.,  nor  is  there  any  prospect  of  their  receiving  a 
Shilling  of  Prize  Money — so  that  it  makes  my  heart 
Bleed  to  see  them  half  Naked  at  this  Severe  Season. 
— Such  an  association  was  never  known  to  be  binding 
for  more  than  a  Single  cruize,  therefore  in  the  present 
Case  it  is  highly  requisite  that  it  should  be  set  aside 
and  some  happy  expedient  fallen  upon  to  induce  the 
Seamen  to  enter  cheerfully  into  the  Service  for  an 
Unlimited  Time. 

I  did  not  till  a  few  minutes  ago  hear  of  this  Oppor- 
tunity by  Mr.  Cumberland  Dougall  of  Baltimore  and 
as  he  is  to  set  out  immediately  I  am  obliged  to  curtail 
my  letter  otherwise  I  had  considerably  more  to  add. 

I  Inclose  in  this  Packet  a  Copy  of  my  letter  lately 
forwarded  to  the  Marine  Board  with  an  Estimate  of 
the  Expence  of  Altering  the  Alfred — But  I  must  repeat 
my  Opinion  that  She  is  now  much  better  calculated 
for  the  Merchant  Service  than  she  can  be  made  for 
War  and  as  She  is  calculated  for  Stowing  Tobacco  She 
would  make  a  good  remittance  to  France. — My  prize 


178  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  Mellish  Transport,  as  she  was  lately  a  Bomb  in 
the  English  Service,  would  make  a  better  Ship  of  War 
than  the  Alfred.  From  the  bins  downward  She  is  one 
Solid  Bed  of  Timber.  She  sails  as  well  as  the  Alfred 
and  is  not  near  So  Crank,  so  that  her  lee  Guns  would 
be  servicable  when  the  Alfred's  will  not. — I  under- 
stand that  there  is  a  Quantity  of  Nine  Pounders  to 
spare  at  New  London,  and  the  Mellish  would  Mount 
18  or  20  on  one  Deck.  The  Alfred's  Guns  are  of  such 
a  Variety  of  lengths  and  Sizes  that  it  is  both  difficult 
and  dangerous  to  Fight  them,  and  the  Nine  Pounders 
are  all  too  long  for  Sea  Service.  Should  you  resolve 
to  convert  the  Mellish  into  a  Ship  of  War  I  believe  she 
may  be  fitted  better  here  than  at  Dartmouth  where 
she  now  is. — I  will  esteem  the  honor  of  hearing  from 
you  as  soon  as  may  be  convenient — and  it  will  Always 
give  me  pleasure  to  receive  and  Obey  your  Commands. 
— I  understand  by  the  report  of  Captain  Falconer 
that  I  was  Appointed  to  one  of  the  Ships  at  Philadel- 
phia— and  Mr.  Livingston  is  also  of  that  Opinion. 
Perhaps  they  have  been  mistaken. — However  I  sub- 
mit my  appointment  as  well  as  my  Rank  and  destina- 
tion entirely  to  you — as  I  am  well  assured  that  if  I  have 
any  Merit  or  Abilities  they  will  not  be  Overlooked  or 
Superseded — I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  Grateful 
Esteem  and  Respect, 
Sir, 

Your  truely  Obliged 
Very  Obedient 

and  most  humble  servant, 

J.  P.  J. 

On  the  21st  of  January  came  the  unexpected  blow 
of  his  dismissal  from  the  command  of  the  Alfred  and 
his  orders  to  return  to  the  Providence.  Before  Jones's 
account  of  this  occurrence  could  have  reached  Robert 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       179 

Morris  he  sent  the  letter  already  given  to  Jones,  de- 
tailing the  plans  which  he  had  prepared  for  his  execu- 
tion, and  which  were  afterward  authorized  by  Con- 
gress. That  letter,  which  gave  him  the  command  of 
all  the  available  ships  of  the  fleet,  shows  to  what  extent 
his  services  had  recommended  him  to  the  favor  of  Mor- 
ris and  how  largely  the  marine  board  shared  his  opin- 
ions. Jones  had  himself  proposed  and  presented  to 
the  marine  board  a  plan  for  an  extensive  expedition, 
comprising  a  descent  upon  the  British  ports  and  ship- 
ping on  the  coast  of  Africa.  In  his  letter  to  Jones, 
Morris  excuses  his  neglect  in  replying  to  this  latest 
proposition  on  the  ground  of  the  confusion  and  mul- 
tiplicity of  business  incident  upon  the  departure  of 
Congress  to  Baltimore,  and  omits  any  reference  to 
Hewes's  absence  from  Congress  or  to  the  new  list  of 
navy  appointments,  with  its  injurious  displacement  of 
Jones.  In  the  light  of  the  extraordinary  orders  he 
was  issuing  to  Captain  Jones  this  painful  occurrence 
did  not  command  his  attention. 

Before  this  most  flattering  proof  of  the  confidence 
and  appreciation  of  the  controlling  member  of  the 
marine  committee  had  time  to  reach  Jones  in  Boston, 
the  latter  wrote  again  to  Morris  a  letter  which  shows 
how  actively  he  was  engaged  in  a  study  of  the  deplor- 
able conditions  then  existing  in  the  navy.  It  shows 
also  that  the  suggestions  of  his  brother  officers  did 
not  command  his  admiration.  His  remarks  about 
Hopkins,  although  severe,  expressed  a  contempt  and 
resentment  unfortunately  only  too  natural  and  de- 
served. 

1  See  page  137. 


IgO  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Boston,  Feby.  10th,  1777. 
Honored  Sir: 

Enclosed  I  send  a  Copy  of  my  last  letter  to  the  Ma- 
rine Board — Also  Copies  of  my  letters  to  you  since  my 
Arrival  here  in  the  Alfred. — As  the  good  government 
of  the  Navy  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  it  is  a  duty 
incumbent  on  every  Man  who  is  honored  with  a  Com- 
mission in  the  Service  to  contribute  all  within  his 
power  to  so  Valuable  an  End.  You  will  not  therefore, 
I  am  persuaded,  charge  me  with  disrespect  Altho'  my 
free  Sentiments  may  not  Perhaps,  always  correspond 
with  your  own. — It  would  give  me  much  more  pleas- 
ure could  I  Join  with  the  other  Commanders  in  Point- 
ing out  hints  for  Useful  Rules  and  Regulations — We 
have  had  Sundry  Meetings  here  for  this  purpose  with- 
out being  able  to  Effect  any  thing — And  as  this  is  a 
natural  consequence  where  the  understanding  is  con- 
tracted I  have  determined  that  if  I  subscribe  to  Non- 
sense it  shall  be  Nonsense  of  my  own  not  that  of  others! 

There  are  no  Officers  more  immediately  wanted  in 
the  marine  department  than  Commissioners  of  Dock 
Yards  to  Superintend  the  Building  and  Outfit  of  all 
Ships  of  war — With  power  to  Appoint  Deputies  to 
provide  and  have  in  constant  Readiness  Sufficient 
Quantities  of  Provision  Stores,  Hops,  Etc.,  So  that 
the  Small  number  of  Ships  we  have  May  constantly 
be  employed  and  not  Continue  Idle  as  they  do  at  pres- 
ent— Besides  all  the  Advantages  that  would  arise  from 
such  Appointments,  the  saving  which  would  accrue 
to  the  Continent  is  worth  attending  to ;  had  such  men 
been  appointed  at  the  first  the  new  Ships  might  have 
been  at  Sea  long  Ago. — The  difficulty  now  lays  in  find- 
ing Men  who  are  deserving  and  who  are  fitly  qualified 
for  an  Office  of  such  Importance. 

Captain  Thomson  of  the  Raleigh  Frigate  in  my 
Opinion  Understands  the  Business  in  all  its  branches 
he  Seems  a  Merchant,  a  Man  of  the  world,  a  Gentle- 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       181 

man — and  the  construction  and  equipment  of  the  Ra- 
leigh by  his  particular  Advice  does  honor  to  his  Me- 
chanical turn  and  is  Evident  proof  of  his  judgment 
so  that  everything  might  be  expected  from  his  Sagacity 
and  forethought — And  from  what  I  have  heard  him 
express,  I  believe  he  would  Undertake  to  Superintend 
the  Building  and  Equipment  of  the  Ships  lately  Or- 
dered.— 

The  Navy  is  in  a  wretched  Condition. — It  wants  a 
man  of  Abilities  at  its  head  who  could  bring  on  a  Pur- 
gation and  Distinguish  between  the  Abilities  of  a  Gen- 
tleman and  those  of  a  mere  Sailor  or  Boatswains  Mate, 
for  till  such  distinction  is  made  the  Navy  will  never 
become  Respectable. — A  man  who  hath  the  Meanness 
of  Soul  to  Deny  his  word  is  a  Despicable  being  Indeed! 
he  sinks  beneath  the  Condition  of  the  poorest  Reptile 
that  Crawls  on  the  Earth — And  it  is  not  Uncharitable 
to  Suspect  him  as  being  Capable  of  any  Baseness  What- 
ever.— As  the  Action  brought  against  me  for  taking 
Men  out  of  the  Eagle  Privateer  where  I  found  deserters 
from  the  Navy  is  a  Matter  which  nearly  concerns 
America  as  well  as  myself. — I  will  add  a  Paragraph 
from  a  Letter  which  I  lately  received  from  Colonel 
Tillinghast  of  Providence,  as  follows: — 

"The  Commodore  has  just  left  me  of  whom  I  re- 
quested to  know  his  determination  either  to  disavow 
his  orders  to  you  or  to  commend  your  conduct  that  I 
might  acquaint  you  thereof  Agreeable  to  your  desire, 
to  which  he  replies:  'You  have  his  Orders  in  Writing 
which,  if  that  will  Justify  your  Conduct  it's  well.7 " 
now  Sir,  I  have  proof  that  he  both  Sent  and  gave  me 
from  his  own  mouth  express  Orders  to  take  all  the  Sea- 
men out  of  Privateers  where  I  found  a  Deserter  from 
the  Navy. — But  this  is  not  the  first  Slip  he  hath  made 
for  I  have  frequently  heard  him  Affirm  that  he  served 
America  without  Pay, — if  so,  why  is  he  so  earnest  about 


182  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

claiming  a  Twentieth  part  of  all  prizes?  This  leads 
to  an  Enquiry  whether  that  Claim  be  well  or  ill  founded 
for  it  would  be  Absurd  to  Suppose  that  the  Congress 
mean  to  give  him  Such  a  Regard  for  Smoking  his 
pipe  at  home — it  being  altogether  Unprecedented  in  a 
Navy  Establishment  even  in  Countries  where  other 
Sinecures  and  Abuses  are  Common. — When  the  Com- 
mander of  a  Fleet  or  Squadron  goes  to  Sea  in  Person 
or  is  on  a  Foreign  Situation  the  Case  is  very  Different." 

You  cannot  at  such  distance  imagine  the  discontent 
which  prevails  among  the  Seamen  in  these  Eastern 
States  on  Account  of  Prize  Money — They  stand  aloof 
and  will  not  re-enter  until  that  Matter  is  Settled — 
and  there  is  no  prospect  of  its  ever  being  Settled  while 
Individuals  lay  Claim  to  Shares,  who  were  not  pres- 
ent at  the  Captures — Lawsuits,  Duellings,  and  endless 
Animosities  will  be  the  consequence  and  the  Publick 
Service  will  be  Neglected  and  at  a  Stand  while  this  dis- 
pute Subsists — As  it  is  a  direct  Violation  of  a  Resolve 
of  Congress  that  any  person  whatever  other  than  the 
Captors  should  share  in  Prizes.  An  Explanatory  Re- 
solve is  the  Most  Speedy  and  Effectual  Method  to  put 
an  End  to  the  Controversy  and  restore  harmony  to 
the  Service. — No  man  or  private  Society  of  men  hath 
a  Right  to  add  to  the  established  laws  of  the  land  Yet 
by  the  Inclosed  Invitation  we  see  that  Individuals  in 
the  Navy  have  Assumed  that  Authority. 

I  must  repeat  what  I  asserted  formerly  that  unless 
some  happy  expedient  can  be  fallen  upon  to  induce  the 
Seamen  to  Enter  into  the  Service  for  a  longer  term  than 
Twelve  Months  it  will  never  be  possible  to  bring  them 
under  proper  Subordination,  and  Subordination  is  as 
necessary,  Nay,  far  more  so  in  the  Fleet  than  in  the 
Army.  Present  Advantages  tho'  small  will  Operate 
far  more  on  the  minds  of  Seamen  than  Future  Pros- 
pects tho'  great. — they  ought  at  least  to  enter  during 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       183 

the  war — if  not  during  pleasure — And  all  Deserters 
ought  to  be  Capitally  punished.  Instead  of  this  there 
hath  not  been  a  Single  Instance  of  Inflicting  punish- 
ment on  a  Deserter,  but  on  the  contrary  they  have  even 
been  paid  for  the  time  of  their  Absence. — And  they  are 
Suffer'd  to  parade  thro'  the  Country  with  impunity 
without  being  Questioned. — Were  these  matters  recti- 
fied we  should  hear  of  no  such  thing  as  Desertion.  The 
American  Navy  would  soon  become  respectable  to  all 
the  World,  Gentlemen  of  Parts  and  liberal  minds  would 
Join  it  from  all  Quarters  and  Felicity  would  lend  us 
her  Standard.  I  shall  only  add  at  present  that  the 
Navy  would  be  far  better  without  a  Head  than  with  a 
Bad  One. — I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  the  greatest 
deference  and  Esteem 

Sir        Your  very  Obliged 
very  Obedient 

Most  humble  Servant 

J.  P.  J. 
(Indorsement) 
Boston  Fti'y  10th,  1777 
Copy  of  a  letter  to  the 

Honble.  R.  M. 

The  next  document  in  the  series  dealing  with  naval 
affairs  is  dated  the  7th  of  April,  in  Philadelphia,  while 
he  was  waiting  for  his  new  command.  In  the  so-called 
"Refreshing  Memorial"  from  the  Texel,  a  very  lucid 
and  comprehensive  narrative  of  his  various  services, 
which  was  drawn  up  by  Jones  in  the  year  1779  to  be 
presented  to  Congress,  he  says:  "The  President  of 
Congress  told  me  that  as  the  regulation  of  the  Marine 
was  then  under  consideration,  it  would  be  of  service  if 
I  could  give  in  writing  the  outlines  of  my  ideas  on  a 


184  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Navy  system.  This  I  did  with  great  pleasure,  and  the 
adoption  of  my  ideas  by  the  navy  board  at  Boston,  to- 
gether with  some  other  regulations  nearly  correspond- 
ing with  my  essay  took  place  soon  after."  This  doc- 
ument, drawn  up  in  a  condensed  form  in  accordance 
with  Hancock's  request  for  the  "outlines"  of  his  ideas, 
contained  the  nucleus  of  a  properly  organized  marine 
establishment.  The  suggestions  therein  contained  were 
very  creditable  to  the  discriminating  judgment  and 
practical  good  sense  of  the  young  naval  officer  of  little 
more  than  a  year's  standing,  and  show  no  little  degree 
of  prophetic  vision  in  regard  to  the  growth  of  the  coun- 
try and  the  future  needs  of  its  navy. 

A  PLAN  FOE  THE  REGULATION  AND  EQUIPMENT  OF  THE 
NAVY  DRAWN  UP  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  HON- 
ORABLE THE  PRESIDENT  OF  CONGRESS 

Let  a  Dockyard  be  established  at  the  most  conven- 
ient and  defensible  Port,  within  the  four  Eastern  States, 
let  another  be  established  at  the  proper  place  within 
the  five  middle  States,  and  a  third  at  a  proper  place 
within  the  four  Southern  States,  let  the  Navy  be 
formed  into  three  divisions  one  Squadron  to  Rendez- 
vous at  each  dockyard.  Let  a  principal  Commissioner, 
a  Surveyor,  a  Treasurer,  and  Deputies  if  necessary, 
with  Clerks,  and  Storekeepers  &c  be  appointed  for  each 
Dockyard.  Let  it  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioners 
to  superintend  the  Building,  Repair,  alteration,  Vict- 
ualling, payment  and  outfit  of  all  Ships  of  War,  let 
it  be  their  duty  to  Provide  and  have  in  constant  readi- 
ness sufficient  Quantities  of  Provision,  Anchors,  Cables, 
Masts,  Yards,  Sails,  Rigging,  Warlike  and  Naval  Stores, 
Slops  and  all  manner  of  Articles  which  are  necessary 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       185 

for  the  speedy  Equipment  of  Ships  of  War,  let  it  be 
their  duty  to  examine  Warrant  Officers  and  to  recom- 
mend them  to  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  let  it  also  be 
their  duty  to  inspect  into  the  State  and  condition  of 
each  Ship  as  soon  as  she  arrives  in  Port  and  to  call  the 
Warrant  officers  to  account  for  the  Expenditure  of  the 
Stores  in  their  respective  departments;  these  Officers 
ought  to  make  good  all  Wastage  or  Embezzlement. 

Let  it  be  the  duty  of  any  Continental  Agent  to  im- 
port such  articles  as  the  Commissioners  may  direct  for 
the  use  of  their  Navy,  let  it  be  their  duty  to  supply 
Ships  of  War  when  in  Ports  at  a  distance  from  the 
dockyards  with  such  Stores  and  Articles  as  may  be 
wanted,  to  enable  the  Agent  to  do  this  with  convenience 
and  despatch,  let  them  have  in  constant  readiness  at 
some  of  the  best  outports  certain  Quantities  of  such 
Articles  as  the  Commissioners  may  judge  necessary, 
let  it  also  be  the  duty  of  any  Agents  to  muster  the 
Ships  company  when  in  Port,  and  to  make  return  to 
the  Commissioner  on  Oath. 

Let  all  Commissioners  meet  at  Philadelphia  and 
hold  a  general  Conference  once  a  year,  leaving  deputies 
or  clerks,  to  carry  on  the  Business  in  their  absence,  let 
it  be  their  duty  to  settle  all  accounts,  with  the  Board 
of  Admiralty,  or  such  Person  or  Persons  as  the  Board 
shall  think  fit  to  appoint  to  whom  they  are  always  to 
be  accountable  for  every  part  of  their  Conduct;  let 
it  be  their  duty  to  lay  before  the  Board,  or  whom  the 
Board  may  appoint,  the  true  state  and  condition  of 
each  Ship,  of  each  Dockyard  and  of  all  Stores,  to  point 
out  past  errors  and  future  Improvements  in  the  con- 
struction of  Ships,  Drydocks,  Hulks,  &c,  to  suggest 
necessary  institutions  in  the  Marine  department  and 
to  furnish  hints  to  form  a  clear  line  of  duty  for  each  of 
the  Navy  warrant  Officers. 

The  principal  commissioner  ought  to  be  a  steady 


186  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Man  of  Business,  a  Seaman  and  complete  Mechanic, 
well  skilled  in  all  respects  in  the  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  Ships  of  War;  it  will  naturally  be  his  duty  to 
inspect  the  Conduct  of  the  Surveyor  and  Treasurer. 

The  Surveyor  ought  to  be  a  Shipwright,  a  Man  of 
great  activity,  and  of  sound  Judgment,  well  acquainted 
with  the  Qualities  and  Properties  of  Ships  of  War,  as 
well  as  (with)  all  their  materials  and  stores. 

The  Treasurer  ought  to  be  a  man  of  Business,  and  a 
complete  Merchant.  The  purchase  of  provision  and 
of  slops  &c.  as  well  as  the  payment  of  the  men  might 
fall  under  his  direction.  The  Authority  of  the  Com- 
missioners must  by  no  means  extend  to  the  destination 
of  Ships  or  their  internal  Government,  it  being  their 
Province  only  to  keep  the  navy  in  fit  order  for  sea  ser- 
vice and  it  being  the  Province  of  Commanders  in  the 
Navy  to  govern  their  Ships  according  to  the  Rules  and 
Regulations  established  by  the  Supreme  Power  of  Con- 
gress, and  to  follow  the  Instructions  which  they  may 
Receive  from  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  or  their  deputies, 
or  from  Senior  or  Flag  Officers,  consequently  Com- 
manders of  Squadrons  or  of  Single  Ships  have  a  right  to 
call  on  the  Commissioners  or  Agents  for  supplies  when- 
ever they  are  in  want  of  them,  being  always  account- 
able to  Senior  Officers  in  their  division  for  their  con- 
duct, but  more  especially  so  to  the  Board  of  Admiralty. 

As  the  extent  of  the  Continent  is  so  great  that  the 
most  advantageous  Enterprise  may  be  lost  before  Or- 
ders can  arrive  within  the  Eastern  and  Southern  dis- 
tricts from  the  Board  of  Admiralty  it  will  perhaps  be 
expedient  to  appoint  deputies  for  executing  the  Office 
of  High  Admiral  within  these  extreme  districts,  to 
continue  in  office  only  during  Pleasure  and  at  all  times 
accountable  to  the  Board  of  Admiralty.  Perhaps  one 
deputy  to  the  Eastward  and  another  to  the  Southward 
may  be  found  equal  to  the  Business,  but  the  number 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY      187 

in  each  department  ought  not  to  exceed  three.  They 
ought  to  be  Men  of  inviolable  Secrecy,  who  inherit  much 
discernment  and  sagacity,  and  are  endowed  with  con- 
sumate  knowledge  in  Marine  Affairs.  Besides  point- 
ing out  the  duty  of  the  deputies  with  the  assistance  of 
three  or  more  of  the  most  judicious  Commanders  of 
the  Fleet  who  may  be  named  by  the  Board  of  Admi- 
ralty to  examine  the  abilities  of  men  who  apply  for 
commissions  and  make  report  to  the  Board;  also  to 
examine  divers  Persons  who  now  bear  Commissions 
in  the  Service,  and  whose  Abilities  and  Accomplish- 
ments are  very  suspicious  and  uncertain.  The  board 
may  do  the  same  within  the  middle  district,  and  by  this 
means  the  Navy  will,  at  a  Period  not  far  distant  be 
Officered  by  Gentlemen  and  Men  of  Sense,  instead  of 
(by)  Men  of  no  education,  with  limited  capacities, 
whom  Nature  never  intended  for  a  Rank  superior  to 
that  of  Boatswain. 

It  may  also  be  expedient  to  establish  an  Academy 
at  each  Dockyard  under  proper  Masters,  who'es  duty 
it  should  be  to  instruct  the  officers  of  the  Fleet  when  in 
Port  in  the  Principles  and  application  of  the  mathe- 
maticks,  Drawing,  Fencing  and  other  manly  Arts  and 
Accomplishments. 

It  will  be  requisite  that  young  Men  serve  a  certain 
term  in  Quality  of  Midshipmen,  or  Masters  mate  be- 
fore they  are  examined  for  promotion. 

And  the  necessity  of  Establishing  an  Hospital  near 
each  Dockyard,  under  the  care  of  Skilful  Physicians  is 
self  evident. 

Jno.  P.  Jones. 
Philadelphia  7th  April  1777. 

It  was  long  before  America  had  a  naval  academy  or 
before  the  higher  grades  of  admiral  and  rear-admiral 
which  Paul  Jones  recommended  were  established,  but 


188  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

several  of  his  suggestions  as  to  the  improvement  of  cer- 
tain regulations  were  soon  after  adopted,  to  the  great 
and  immediate  benefit  of  the  service;  parity  of  rank 
between  the  army  and  the  navy  was  shortly  after  re- 
solved upon  on  the  basis  proposed  by  him,  and  the  very 
necessary  regulation  in  regard  to  the  award  of  an  in- 
creased share  of  prize-money  to  the  captors  of  ships 
taken  from  the  enemy  was  also  adopted.  The  first  regu- 
lation silenced  the  very  bitter  feeling  engendered  by 
the  irregular  and  changing  list  of  navy  appointments. 
The  prize-money  regulation  was  equally  important  in  its 
effect  of  counteracting  the  privateering  interests,  which 
offered  such  superior  inducements  to  seamen  that  they 
threatened  to  choke  the  infant  navy  at  the  very  mo- 
ment of  its  birth;  the  increase  of  emolument  to  the 
captors,  as  finally  ordered  by  Congress  at  the  instant 
request  of  Paul  Jones,  made  it  finally  possible  to  se- 
cure seamen  for  the  public  service.  The  appointment 
of  a  board  of  admiralty,  the  examination  of  officers  be- 
fore appointment  by  a  regularly  constituted  committee, 
the  increase  in  the  length  of  the  terms  of  enlistment, 
and  a  properly  appointed  and  regulated  court-martial 
were  all  adopted  according  to  Jones's  suggestions.1 
The  only  pity,  as  his  naval  biographer2  remarks,  be- 
ing that  this  adoption  was  so  long  delayed. 

1  Parity  of  rank  was  recommended  by  Jones  in  a  letter  to  Morris  of 
September  the  4th,  1776.  It  was  adopted  by  Congress  on  November 
the  15th  of  this  same  year. 

New  prize-money  regulations  were  recommended  by  Jones  on  Octo- 
ber the  17th,  1776,  and  adopted  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month. 

A  board  of  admiralty  was  recommended  by  Jones  in  a  letter  to  Morris 
on  October  the  17th  and  in  later  letters  to  Hewes;  it  was  adopted  in 
October,  1779. 

2  Captain  Alexander  Slidell  McKenzie,  "Life  of  Paul  Jones,"  1848. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       189 

Another  and  very  important  communication,  writ- 
ten at  a  later  date  (after  his  European  experience  and 
his  association  with  officers  of  the  French  fleet  had 
widened  his  knowledge  and  enlarged  his  views),  com- 
pletes the  series  of  letters  which  he  addressed  to  Mor- 
ris as  head  of  the  American  marine.  This  document 
was  prepared  in  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1783,  after 
peace  had  been  declared,  and  was  written  primarily 
for  the  purpose  of  presenting  his  grievances  in  the  mat- 
ter of  his  supersedence  in  rank,  and  to  urge  his  claims 
for  reinstatement  in  what  he  now  considered  was  his 
proper  place  at  the  head  of  the  navy.  It  contains 
many  reflections  and  suggestions  in  regard  to  the  regu- 
lation of  the  marine,  and  the  portions  of  it  as  here 
quoted  were  printed  by  Disraeli  in  his  anonymous  life 
of  Jones,  with  the  comment  that  "they  would  be  found 
exceedingly  interesting,  and  not  merely  to  our  Naval 
Officers."  The  advance  which  they  showed  in  both 
knowledge  and  power  of  expression  over  the  opinions 
given  in  the  preceding  letters  is  very  striking: 

The  beginning  of  our  navy,  as  navies  now  rank,  was 
so  singularly  small,  that,  I  am  of  the  opinion,  it  has 
no  precedent  in  history.  Was  it  a  proof  of  madness 
in  the  first  corps  of  sea  officers  to  have,  at  so  critical  a 
period,  launched  out  on  the  ocean  with  only  two  armed 
merchant  ships,  two  armed  brigantines,  and  one  armed 
sloop,  to  make  war  against  such  a  power  as  Great 
Britain?  To  be  diffident  is  not  always  a  proof  of  igno- 
rance. I  had  sailed  before  this  revolution  in  armed 
ships  and  frigates,  yet,  when  I  came  to  try  my  skill,  I 
am  not  ashamed  to  own  I  did  not  find  myself  perfect 
in  the  duties  of  a  first  lieutenant.    If  midnight  study 


190  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

and  the  instruction  of  the  greatest  and  most  learned 
sea  officers,  can  have  given  me  advantages,  I  am  not 
without  them.  I  confess,  however,  I  have  yet  to  learn ; 
it  is  the  work  of  many  years'  study  and  experience  to 
acquire  the  high  degree  of  science  necessary  for  a  great 
sea  officer.  Cruising  after  merchant  ships,  the  ser- 
vice in  which  our  frigates  have  usually  been  employed, 
affords,  as  I  may  say,  no  part  of  the  knowledge  neces- 
sary for  conducting  fleets  and  their  operations.  There 
is  now,  perhaps,  as  much  difference  between  a  battle 
between  two  ships,  and  an  engagement  between  two 
fleets,  as  there  is  between  a  duel  and  a  ranged  battle 
between  two  armies.  The  English,  who  boast  so  much 
of  their  navy,  never  fought  a  ranged  battle  on  the 
ocean  before  the  war  that  is  now  ended.  The  battle 
off  Ushant  was,  on  their  part,  like  their  former  ones, 
irregular;  and  Admiral  KeppeU  could  only  justify  him- 
self by  the  example  of  Hawke  in  our  remembrance,  and 
of  Russel  in  the  last  century.  From  that  moment  the 
English  were  forced  to  study,  and  to  imitate,  the 
French  in  their  evolutions.  They  never  gained  any 
advantage  when  they  had  to  do  with  equal  force,  and 
the  unfortunate  defeat  of  Count  de  Grasse  was  owing 
more  to  the  unfavorable  circumstances  of  the  wind 
coming  a-head  four  points  at  the  beginning  of  the  bat- 
tle, which  put  his  fleet  in  the  order  of  echiquier  when 
it  was  too  late  to  tack,  and  of  calm  and  currents  after- 
wards, which  brought  on  an  entire  disorder,  than  to 
the  admiralship  or  even  the  vast  superiority  of  Rod- 
ney, who  had  forty  sail  of  the  line  against  thirty,  and 
five  three-deckers  against  one.  By  the  account  of  some 
of  the  French  officers,  Rodney  might  as  well  have  been 
asleep,  not  having  made  a  second  signal  during  the 
battle,  so  that  every  captain  did  as  he  pleased. 

The  English  are  very  deficient  in  signals,  as  well  as 
in  naval  tactic.    This  I  know,  having  in  my  possession 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       191 

their  present  fighting  and  sailing  instructions,  which 
comprehend  all  their  signals  and  evolutions.  Lord 
Howe  has,  indeed,  made  some  improvements  by  bor- 
rowing from  the  French.  But  Kempenfelt,  who  seems 
to  have  been  a  more  promising  officer,  had  made  a  still 
greater  improvement  by  the  same  means. 

It  was  said  of  Kempenfelt,  when  he  was  drowned  in 
the  Royal  George,  England  lost  her  du  Pavillion.  That 
great  man,  the  Chevalier  du  Pavillion,  commanded  the 
Triumphant,  and  was  killed  in  the  last  battle  of  Count 
de  Grasse.  France  lost  in  him  one  of  her  greatest 
naval  tacticians,  and  a  man  who  had,  besides,  the 
honour  (in  1773)  to  invent  the  new  system  of  naval 
signals,  by  which  sixteen  hundred  orders,  questions, 
answers  and  informations  can,  without  confusion  or 
misconstruction,  and  with  the  greatest  celerity,  be 
communicated  through  a  great  fleet.  It  was  his  fixed 
opinion  that  a  smaller  number  of  signals  would  be 
insufficient.  A  captain  of  the  line  at  this  day  must  be 
a  tactician.  A  captain  of  a  cruising  frigate  may  make 
shift  without  ever  having  heard  of  naval  tactics.  Until 
I  arrived  in  France,  and  became  acquainted  with  that 
great  tactician  Count  D'Orvilliers,  and  his  judicious 
assistant  the  Chevalier  du  Pavillion,  who,  each  of  them 
honoured  me  with  instructions  respecting  the  science 
of  governing  the  operations,  Etc.  of  a  fleet,  I  confess  I 
was  not  sensible  how  ignorant  I  had  been,  before  that 
time,  of  naval  tactics. 

From  the  observations  I  have  made,  and  what  I  have 
read,  it  is  my  opinion,  that  in  a  navy  there  ought  to 
be  at  least  as  many  grades  below  a  captain  of  a  line, 
as  there  are  below  a  colonel  of  a  regiment.  Even  the 
navy  of  France  is  deficient  in  subaltern  grades,  and  has 
paid  dearly  for  that  error  in  its  constitution,  joined  to 
another  of  equal  magnitude,  which  authorizes  ensigns 
of  the  navy  to  take  charge  of  watch  on  board  ships  of 


192  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  line.  One  instance  may  be  sufficient  to  show  this. 
The  Zele  in  the  night  between  the  11th  and  12th  of 
April,  1782,  ran  on  board  the  Ville  de  Paris,  which  ac- 
cident was  the  principal  cause  of  the  unfortunate  bat- 
tle which  ensued  next  day,  between  Count  de  Grasse 
and  Admiral  Rodney.  That  accident  in  all  probability 
would  not  have  happened,  had  the  deck  of  the  Zele 
been  at  the  time  commanded  by  a  steady  experienced 
lieutenant  of  the  line,  instead  of  a  young  ensign.  The 
charge  of  the  deck  of  a  ship  of  the  hne  should,  in 
my  judgment,  never  be  entrusted  to  an  officer  under 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  At  that  time  of  life  he  may 
be  supposed  to  have  served  nine  or  ten  years,  a  term 
not  more  than  sufficient  to  have  furnished  him  with 
the  necessary  knowledge  for  so  great  a  charge.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  the  minds  of  the  officers  must 
become  uneasy,  when  they  are  continued  too  long  in 
any  one  grade,  which  must  happen  (if  regard  be  paid 
to  the  good  of  the  service)  when  there  are  no  more 
subaltern  grades  than  midshipman  and  lieutenant. 
Would  it  not  be  wiser  to  raise  young  men  by  smaller 
steps  and  to  increase  the  number? 

I  have  many  things  to  offer  respecting  the  formation 
of  our  navy,  but  shall  here  limit  myself  to  one,  which  I 
think  a  preliminary  to  the  formation  and  establishment 
of  a  naval  constitution  suitable  to  the  local  situation, 
resources  and  prejudices  of  this  continent.  The  con- 
stitution adopted  for  the  navy  in  the  year  1775,  and 
by  which  it  has  been  governed  ever  since,  and  crumbled 
away,  I  may  say,  to  nothing,  is  so  very  defective,  that 
I  am  of  the  opinion  it  would  be  difficult  to  spoil  it. 
Much  wisdom  and  more  knowledge  then  we  possess, 
is,  in  my  humble  opinion,  necessary  to  the  formation 
of  such  a  naval  constitution  as  is  absolutely  wanting. 
If,  when  our  finances  enable  us  to  go  on,  we  should  set 
out  wrong,  as  we  did  in  the  year  1775,  but  much  more 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       193 

so  after  the  arrangement  or  rather  derangement  of  rank 
in  1776,  much  money  may  be  thrown  away  to  little  or 
no  purpose.  We  are  a  young  people,  and  need  not  be 
ashamed  to  ask  advice  from  nations  older  and  more 
experienced  in  marine  affairs  than  ourselves.  This,  I 
conceive  might  be  done  in  a  manner  that  would  be  re- 
ceived as  a  compliment  by  several  or  perhaps  all  the 
marine  powers  of  Europe,  and  at  the  same  time  would 
enable  us  to  collect  such  helps  as  would  be  of  vast  use 
when  we  come  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  creation 
and  government  of  our  marine,  the  establishment  and 
police  of  our  dock-yards,  academies,  hospitals,  etc., 
etc.,  and  the  general  police  of  our  seamen  throughout 
the  continent.  These  considerations  induced  me,  on 
my  return  from  the  fleet  of  his  excellency  the  Marquis 
de  Vaudreuil,  to  propose  to  you  to  lay  my  ideas  on 
the  subject  before  Congress,  and  to  propose  sending  a 
proper  person  to  Europe  in  a  handsome  frigate  to  dis- 
play our  flag  in  the  ports  of  the  different  marine  powers, 
to  offer  them  the  free  use  of  our  ports  and  propose  to 
them  commercial  advantages,  etc.,  and  then  to  ask  per- 
mission to  visit  their  marine  arsenals,  and  to  be  in- 
formed how  they  are  furnished  both  with  men,  pro- 
vision, materials  and  warlike  stores, — by  what  police 
and  officers  they  are  governed,  how  and  from  what  re- 
sources the  officers  and  men  are  paid,  etc. — the  line 
of  conduct  drawn  between  the  officers  of  the  fleet, 
etc., — also  the  armament  and  equipment  of  the  dif- 
ferent ships  of  war,  with  their  dimensions,  the  number 
and  qualities  of  their  officers  and  men,  by  what  police 
they  are  governed  in  port  and  at  sea,  how  and  from 
what  resources  they  are  fed,  clothed,  paid,  etc.,  and 
the  general  police  of  their  seamen,  academies,  hospi- 
tals, etc.,  etc.  If  you  still  object  to  my  project  on  ac- 
count of  the  expense  of  sending  a  frigate  to  Europe  and 
keeping  her  there  until  the  business  can  be  effected, 


194  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

I  think  it  may  be  done,  though,  perhaps,  not  with  the 
same  dignity,  without  a  frigate.  My  plan  for  forming 
a  proper  corps  of  sea  officers  is,  by  teaching  them  the 
naval  tactics  in  a  fleet  of  evolution.  To  lessen  the 
expense  as  much  as  possible,  I  would  compose  that 
fleet  of  frigates  instead  of  ships  of  the  line,  on  board  of 
each  I  would  have  a  little  academy,  where  the  officers 
should  be  taught  the  principles  of  mathematics  and 
mechanics,  when  off  duty.  When  in  port,  the  young 
officers  should  be  obliged  to  attend  the  academies  es- 
tablished at  each  dock-yard,  where  they  should  be 
taught  the  principles  of  every  art  and  science  that  is 
necessary  to  form  the  character.  And  every  commis- 
sion officer  of  the  navy  should  have  free  access  and  be 
entitled  to  receive  instruction  gratis  at  those  acade- 
mies. All  this  would  be  attended  with  no  very  great 
expense,  and  the  public  advantage  resulting  from  it 
would  be  immense.  I  am  sensible  it  cannot  be  im- 
mediately adopted,  and  that  we  must  first  look  about 
for  ways  and  means;  but  the  sooner  it  is  adopted  the 
better.  We  cannot,  like  the  ancients,  build  a  fleet  in 
a  month,  and  we  ought  to  take  example  from  what 
has  lately  befallen  Holland.  In  time  of  peace  it  is 
necessary  to  prepare,  and  be  always  prepared  for  war 
at  sea.  I  have  had  the  honour  to  be  presented  with 
copies  of  the  signals,  tactics  and  police,  that  have  been 
adopted  under  the  different  admirals  of  France  and 
Spain  during  the  war,  and  I  have  in  my  last  campaign 
seen  them  put  in  practice.  While  I  was  at  Brest, 
as  well  as  while  I  was  inspecting  the  building  of  the 
America,  as  I  had  furnished  myself  with  good  authors,  I 
applied  much  of  my  leisure  time  to  the  study  of  naval 
architecture,  and  other  matters  that  related  to  the  es- 
tablishment and  police  of  dockyards,  Etc.  I,  however, 
feel  myself  bound  to  say  again.  I  have  yet  much  need 
to  be  instructed. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY       195 

A  letter  written  to  a  brother  officer  just  before  the 
close  of  the  war,  at  a  time  when  the  navy  had  become 
practically  disorganized,  gives  an  intimate  and  per- 
sonal statement  of  his  persistent  efforts  toward  the 
improvement  of  the  navy: 

Poktsmouth,  May  2bth.  1782. 
To  Hector  McNeill,  Boston. 

I  am  honored  my  dear  friend,  with  your  esteemed 
favor  of  the  20th.  I  am  altogether  in  the  dark  about 
what  has  been  done  or  is  doing  to  re-establish  the 
credit  of  our  Marine.  In  the  course  of  near  seven 
years  service  I  have  continually  suggested  what  has 
occurred  to  me  as  most  likely  to  promote  its  honor  and 
render  it  servicable  to  our  Cause;  but  my  voice  has 
been  like  a  cry  in  the  Desert:  I  know  no  remedy  but 
patience.  No  man  can  be  more  in  suspense  than  I 
am — and  my  reason  as  well  as  my  feelings  correspond 
with  yours  in  lamenting  the  protraction  of  Justice  to 
men  who  have  merited  the  smiles  of  the  Sovereign 
Authority.  Whatever  I  have  written  or  may  write 
to  you  on  so  delicate  a  subject  must  be  in  confidence. 
I  fondly  hope  the  times  will  mend,  and  that  Merit  and 
Abilities  will  yet  find  encouragement;  but  were  I  used 
ever  so  ill  I  determine  to  persevere,  till  my  Country 
is  Free. 

When  I  hear  anything  farther  I  shall  not  fail  to  write 
you,  meantime  present  my  affectionate  respects  to 
your  family,  and  believe  me  your 

Paul  Jones. 

A  short  dissertation  on  the  art  of  war,  which  forms 
the  conclusion  of  his  journal  of  his  Russian  campaign, 
is  the  last  composition  of  his  pen  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
fession of  which  he  was  so  illustrious  an  exponent: 


196  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  art  of  war  deserves  the  exclusive  attention  of 
those  who  are  to  be  engaged  in  it;  and  military  science 
is  only  acquired  by  dint  of  study,  of  reflections  and 
of  combinations.  This  study  commenced  at  an  early 
season,  constantly  followed  up  during  life,  and  aided 
by  continued  experience,  will  hardly  become  familiar 
in  all  its  parts  to  him  who  pursues  it.  Some  occasion 
will  infallibly  happen,  when  pungent  regret  for  hav- 
ing neglected  to  obtain  instruction  will  be  felt  in  all 
their  force,  by  him  who  charged  with  an  important 
operation,  is  obliged  to  confess  to  himself  his  own 
incapacity  to  execute  it.  The  time  has  gone  by  for 
beginning  to  attend  to  such  study  when  he  has  unfort- 
unately been  promoted  to  a  command.  Birth,  patron- 
age, solicitation,  intrigue  sometimes  win  employment 
and  rank;  but  they  do  not  secure  success  and  credit. 
As  the  profession  of  arms  is  so  honorable,  and  those 
who  hold  commands  acquire  a  reputation  at  once  so 
brilliant  and  so  solid  when  they  discharge  their  duties 
worthily;  and  as  on  the  other  hand  nothing  is  so  dis- 
graceful as  a  repulse  received  in  war,  through  our  own 
fault;  with  what  ardour  should  not  officers  who  have 
any  passion  for  true  glory,  seek  to  provide  themselves 
abundantly  with  all  the  variety  of  knowledge,  which 
may  some  day  put  them  in  the  way  of  becoming  dis- 
tinguished? 

Courage  alone,  will  not  lead  to  renown,  as  many 
fondly  believe.  The  road  would  be  too  easy.  The 
fate  of  courage,  devoid  of  the  lights  which  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  the  art  communicates  is  to  be  ig- 
norant of  danger  to  confront  it,  and  to  perish  to  no 
purpose,  often  without  the  satisfaction  in  perishing  of 
knowing  that  the  manner  of  its  fall  was  intrepid. 

It  would  appear  that  the  study  of  an  art  of  which  all 
the  details  are  so  interesting,  the  knowledge  of  which 
is  connected  with  an  infinite  number  of  facts  naturally 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  NAVY      197 

exciting  quick  curiosity  the  principles  of  which  are  scat- 
tered through  the  histories  of  all  nations,  must  have  in- 
spiring attractions  for  those  who  desire  to  rise  in  their 
profession  as  high  as  they  are  permitted  to  hope  for 
and  a  taste  for  it  which  cannot  but  redound  to  their 
advantage  by  conducting  them  through  the  true  path 
to  the  promotion  they  covet.  Such  promotion  can- 
not be  flattering  to  men  of  sense  unless  they  have  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  they  deserved  it:  and 
that  consciousness  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  console  those 
whose  success  calumniators  have  made  it  their  busi- 
ness to  prevent. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  "RANGER" 

On  the  25th  of  March,  while  Jones  was  on  his  way 
from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  the  marine  committee, 
prevented  by  Hopkins  from  giving  him  the  im- 
portant command  which  they  had  destined  for  him, 
had  already  taken  measures  to  provide  him  with  a 
ship: 

The  Congress  by  a  resolve  of  the  20th  inst,  having 
ordered  that  the  agent  in  Boston  should  purchase, 
arm  and  fit  out  for  the  service  of  the  United  States 
three  fast  sailing  ships  that  will  conveniently  mount 
18  six  pounders  on  one  deck,  and  that  Captain  Paul 
Jones  shall  command  one  of  said  ships,  until  bet- 
ter provision  can  be  made  for  him.  Therefore  Re- 
solved, that  Captain  Paul  Jones  shall  have  his  choice 
of  those  three  ships,  and  that  he  superintend  the  fit- 
ting of  her  out.  (Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  John 
Brown,  in  Marine  Committee,  Philadelphia,  March 
15th.) 

The  Agent,  Mr.  Bradford,  has  orders  from  this  Com- 
mittee to  purchase  and  fit  out  three  armed  vessels  pur- 
suant on  a  resolve  of  Congress  which  is  transmitted  to 
him,  one  of  which  you  are  to  command,  and  the  Com- 
mittee have  directed  that  you  should  have  your  choice. 
Therefore  you  are  desired  to  make  your  selection  as 
soon  as  the  purchase  shall  be  made,  and  to  superintend 

198 


THE  "RANGER"  199 

and  hasten  the  fitting  of  her  out  for  sea  with  all  expe- 
dition. 

We  are,  Sir, 

Your  very  humble  servants, 

John  Hancock, 
William  Whipple, 
William  Ellery, 
Abraham  Clark, 
Thomas  Banks, 
Robert  Morris. 


After  the  conclusion  of  his  business  in  Philadelphia, 
having  left  his  plan  for  a  navy  system  in  the  hands 
of  the  marine  committee,  Jones  proceeded  to  Bos- 
ton in  pursuance  of  his  orders.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
imagine  the  thoughts  which  must  have  occupied  his 
mind  on  his  journey  back  to  New  England.  The 
affairs  of  his  country  were  still  in  the  gravest  doubt, 
and  his  reflections  must  have  taken  a  serious  tone  as 
he  made  his  way  through  the  Jerseys,  past  farms 
devastated  by  the  Hessians,  and  through  the  half- 
deserted  villages,  in  that  early  despondent  spring- 
time of  1777. 

Congress  had  proved  sadly  ineffectual  and  was  little 
respected.  The  treasury  was  empty  and  the  army 
depleted  by  desertions,  while  everywhere  the  British 
arms  were  victorious.  Howe  was  threatening  to  oc- 
cupy the  capital,  and  Burgoyne  was  moving  down 
through  Canada  with  an  apparently  irresistible  force 
to  join  Clinton  in  New  York.  In  the  face  of  these  sin- 
ister facts  Paul  Jones  forgot  his  injured  vanity  and  the 
injustice  of  his  supersedure,  and  turned  his  whole 


200  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

attention  to  a  consideration  of  the  means  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  equipment  of  the  one  ship  which  had 
been  granted  him  by  Congress.  By  the  23d  of  April 
he  was  again  in  Boston,  and  no  sooner  had  he  arrived 
than  he  was  summoned  to  sit  on  two  courts-martial, 
the  first  on  the  Alfred,  the  second  on  the  Hancock. 
Proofs  of  the  glaring  incapacity  of  the  men  whom  Con- 
gress had  set  over  him  were  not  wanting,  and  he  ex- 
pressed himself  privately  to  his  friend  Morris,  with  a 
very  natural  bitterness,  concerning  the  illiteracy  of  a 
captain,  who  was  a  member  of  both  courts-martial 
and  who  could  not  sign  his  name  to  a  record  of  the 
proceedings. 

On  May  4  he  indited  the  long  and  often-quoted  let- 
ter to  Stuart  Mawey,  to  inquire  about  his  property 
in  the  West  Indies.  Freed  at  last  from  all  fear  of  con- 
sequences from  the  disastrous  occurrence  in  Tobago, 
he  felt  that  he  could  now  safely  reveal  his  situation  and 
send  assistance  to  his  family. 

The  first  weeks  of  his  stay  in  Boston  were  occupied 
by  ineffectual  efforts  to  procure  a  ship  from  the  dilatory 
marine  board  of  Massachusetts,  and  he  sent  various 
suggestions  to  Congress  as  to  the  fitting  out  of  his  prize, 
the  Mellish,  in  case  no  American  vessel  was  available. 
After  this  discouraging  delay  his  spirits  were  revived 
by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Congress,  on  May  9,  in 
which  he  was  ordered  to  sail  for  Europe  in  the  Am- 
phitrite,  and  there  to  take  command  of  the  Indien,  a 
splendid  new  frigate  then  being  built  in  Amsterdam 
under  the  direction  of  Silas  Deane,  the  American  com- 
missioner at  Paris: 


THE  "RANGER"  201 

In  Marine  Committee, 

Philadelphia,  9th  May,  1777. 
John  Paul  Jones,  Esq., 
Sir:— 
Congress  have  thought  proper  to  authorize  the 
Secret  Committee  to  employ  you  on  a  voyage  in  the 
Amphitrite  from  Portsmouth  to  Carolina  and  France, 
where  it  is  expected  you  will  be  provided  with  a  fine 
frigate;  and  as  your  present  commission  is  for  the  com- 
mand of  a  particular  ship,  we  now  send  you  a  new  one 
whereby  you  are  appointed  a  Captain  in  our  Navy, 
and,  of  course,  may  command  any  ship  in  the  service 
to  which  you  are  particularly  ordered.    You  are  to 
obey  the  orders  of  the  Secret  Committee,  and  we  are 
Sir,  &c. 

(Signed)        John  Hancock 
Rob.  Morris 
Wm.  Whipple. 

He  was  also  directed  to  give  immediate  notice  by 
letter  to  the  commissioners  in  Paris  of  his  arrival,  and 
to  request  their  instructions  as  to  his  further  destina- 
tion. He  was  told  to  take  particular  notice  whilst  on 
the  coast  of  France  or  in  a  French  port  to  keep  his  guns 
covered  and  concealed,  so  as  to  make  as  little  warlike 
appearance  as  possible.  On  the  same  day  the  marine 
committee  furnished  him  with  the  following  official 
recommendation  to  the  commissioners: 

Philadelphia,  9th  May,  1777. 
Honorable  Gentlemen: — 

This  letter  is  intended  to  be  delivered  to  you  by  John 
Paul  Jones,  Esq.,  an  active  and  brave  commander  in 
our  Navy,  who  has  already  performed  signal  services 


202  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

in  vessels  of  little  force;  and  in  reward  for  his  zeal,  we 
have  directed  him  to  go  on  board  the  Amphitrite,  a 
French  ship  of  twenty  guns,  that  brought  in  a  valuable 
cargo  of  stores  from  Mons.  Hortalez  &  Company,  and 
with  her  to  repair  to  France.  He  takes  with  him  his 
commission,  some  officers  and  men,  so  that  we  hope 
he  will,  under  that  sanction,  make  some  good  prizes 
with  the  Amphitrite;  but  our  design  of  sending  him 
is  (with  the  approbation  of  Congress),  that  you  may 
purchase  one  of  those  fine  frigates  that  Mr.  Deane 
writes  us  you  can  get,  and  invest  him  with  the  com- 
mand thereof  as  soon  as  possible.  We  hope  you  may 
not  delay  this  business  one  moment,  but  purchase,  in 
such  port  or  place  in  Europe  as  it  can  be  done  with 
most  convenience  and  despatch,  a  fine,  fast  sailing 
frigate  or  larger  ship.  Direct  Captain  Jones  where 
he  must  repair  to,  and  he  will  take  with  him  his  offi- 
cers and  men  towards  manning  her.  You  will  assign 
him  some  good  house  or  agents  to  supply  him  with 
everything  necessary  to  get  the  ship  speedily  and  well 
equipped  and  manned — somebody  that  will  bestir 
themselves  vigorously  in  the  business,  and  never  quit 
it  until  it  is  accomplished. 

If  you  have  any  plan  of  service  to  be  performed  in 
Europe  by  such  a  ship,  that  you  think  will  be  more 
for  the  interest  and  honour  of  the  States  than  send- 
ing her  out  directly,  Captain  Jones  is  instructed  to 
obey  your  orders;  and,  to  save  repetition,  let  him 
lay  before  you  the  instructions  we  have  given  him, 
and  furnish  you  with  a  copy  thereof.  You  can  then 
judge  what  it  will  be  necessary  to  direct  him  in,  and 
whatever  you  do  will  be  approved,  as  it  will  un- 
doubtedly tend  to  promote  the  public  service  of  this 
country. 

You  will  see  by  this  step  how  much  dependence  Con- 
gress places  in  your  advices;  and  you  must  make  it  a 


THE  "RANGER"  203 

point  not  to  disappoint  Captain  Jones'  wishes  and  ex- 
pectations on  this  occasion. 
We  are,  &c. 

(Signed)         Robert  Morris, 
The  Honourable  Benjamin        Richard  Henry  Lee, 
Franklin,  Silas  Deane  and        Wm.  Whipple, 
Arthur  Lee,  Esquires,  Com-       Phil.  Livingston. 
missioners,  &c. 

The  marine  committee,  under  the  direction  of  Rob- 
ert Morris,  had  long  intended  to  compensate  Jones  for 
his  deprivation  of  the  command  of  the  colonial  fleet, 
and  now  carried  out  their  design  in  this  honorable 
appointment.  Jones's  feelings  of  satisfaction  were  ex- 
pressed with  the  enthusiasm  which  always  burst  from 
his  truly  grateful  heart  at  any  marks  of  honor  which 
were  bestowed  upon  him.  "This  was  generous  in- 
deed," he  wrote  to  his  friend  Hewes,  "and  I  shall  feel 
the  force  of  the  obligation  to  the  last  moment  of  my 
life." 

On  the  26th  of  May  Mr.  Hewes  wrote  to  him  from 
Philadelphia,  whither  he  had  journeyed  after  the  ad- 
journment of  the  North  Carolina  assembly  at  Halifax, 
where  he  had  lost  his  election  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. He  had  been  forced  to  leave  Philadelphia  in 
the  autumn  on  account  of  his  seriously  impaired  health, 
and  he  was  still  further  afflicted  with  rheumatism  during 
the  winter  and  unable  to  leave  the  South;  but  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Hewes  &  Smith,  ship-owners 
and  Continental  agents  of  Congress  for  the  purchase 
and  equipment  of  vessels  ordered  for  the  navy,  he  was 
far  from  idle.    He  was  also  a  member  of  the  secret  com- 


204  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

mittee  of  Congress,  appointed  for  the  purchase  of  these 
ships,  and  in  these  double  and  curiously  consonant 
occupations  he  employed  what  energy  he  possessed 
with  his  usual  conscientious  zeal.  He  did  not  arrive 
in  Philadelphia  until  some  six  weeks  after  Jones  had 
departed  for  Boston,  and  was  naturally  much  con- 
cerned to  hear  that  his  prot£g6  had  been  superseded 
in  the  naval  list  of  October  10.  In  words  of  sincere 
friendship  and  sympathy  he  wrote: 

"My  utmost  endeavors  shall  be  used  to  service  you, 
from  a  conviction  that  you  ought  to  command  some 
who  were  placed  higher  than  yourself."  He  added 
also,  by  way  of  explaining  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
appointments:  "You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  how  vast 
a  number  of  applications  are  continually  making  for 
officers  of  the  new  frigates,  especially  for  the  com- 
mand." This  letter,  calculated  to  allay  the  burning 
sense  of  injustice  which  Jones  felt  at  his  supersedure 
was  unfortunately  long  delayed  in  reaching  him,  and 
he  was  left  to  brood  over  his  grievances  for  many 
months. 

Immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  his  orders  from  the 
marine  committee,  Jones  set  about  the  business  of  en- 
gaging the  force  he  was  directed  to  take  with  him  on 
the  Amphitrite,  but  here,  again,  he  encountered  the 
hostile  influence  of  Hopkins.  The  seamen  he  engaged 
through  the  Continental  agent  at  Rhode  Island  were 
part  of  his  old  crew  of  the  Providence,  and  were  most 
eager  to  again  sail  under  his  command,  but  they  were 
immediately  impressed  by  Hopkins's  son,  on  the  War- 
ren,  and  prevented  from  joining  him. 


THE  "RANGER"  205 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  the  Amphitrite  was 
the  vessel  sent  over  to  America  laden  with  ammuni- 
tion and  stores,  for  the  assistance  of  the  colonists,  by 
Baron  Beaumarchais.  The  extraordinary  author  of 
"The  Marriage  of  Figaro"  was,  in  fact,  the  very  first 
Frenchman  to  propose  practical  support  for  the  Amer- 
ican insurgents.  By  the  exercise  of  his  unequalled 
tenacity  and  enthusiasm,  he  prevailed  upon  the  French 
court  to  authorize  the  sending  of  this  ship  with  sup- 
plies, which  were,  indeed,  desperately  needed  by  the 
indigent  government  at  this  critical  moment  of  the 
Revolution.  The  house  of  Hortalez  &  Company,  re- 
ferred to  in  Jones's  orders  from  Congress,  was  Beau- 
marchais himself,  designated  under  this  fictitious  name. 
Beaumarchais  believed  in  the  success  of  America's 
struggles  for  independence  while  yet  there  were  few  to 
agree  with  him,1  and  not  the  least  of  the  crimes  of  in- 
gratitude which  lie  at  the  door  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress was  the  disgraceful  attempt  to  repudiate  the 
country's  debt  to  this  ardent  and  invaluable  friend. 

In  the  last  week  of  May  Jones  proceeded  to  Ports- 
mouth to  see  and  consult  the  captain  of  the  Arrvphi- 
trite,  but  on  the  26th  he  wrote  to  the  marine  committee 
from  that  port  to  inform  them  that  the  French  cap- 
tain had  refused  to  permit  him  to  embark  on  board 
his  ship,  except  as  a  passenger,  conceiving  that  it 
would  be  "a  dishonor  to  the  French  Flag  to  suffer  an 
American  commission  to  supersede  his."  The  instruc- 
tions of  the  marine  committee  had  been,  in  fact,  de- 

1  As  early  as  September  21,  1775,  Beaumarchais  wrote  in  a  memorial 
to  Louis  XVI:  "America  snail  escape  the  English  in  spite  of  their 
efforts." 


206  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

cidedly  vague  as  to  who  should  command  on  board 
the  Amphitrite,  and  the  refusal  of  her  captain  was  in 
no  way  surprising.  The  committee  made  no  further 
attempts  to  carry  out  this  plan  of  transporting  Jones 
and  his  force  to  Europe,  and  was  very  willing  to  accept 
Colonel  Langdon's  suggestion  that  Jones  should  take 
command  of  the  Continental  ship  of  war  Ranger,  then 
being  built  under  his  direction  at  Portsmouth  and  very 
near  completion.  On  the  3d  of  June  Jones  wrote  for 
the  first  time  to  the  three  commissioners  in  Paris — 
Franklin,  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee — informing  them 
that  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  Langdon's  suggestion 
would  probably  be  adopted  by  Congress.  "I  ardently 
wish,"  he  writes,  in  conclusion,  to  these  gentlemen,  "to 
be  again  in  active  service,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
prospect  I  have  of  being  shortly  under  your  direction 
affords  me  a  very  singular  pleasure,  for  although  I  am 
personally  unknown  to  you,  I  altogether  esteem  your 
characters."  Refused  a  command  on  the  Amphitrite, 
Jones  now  returned  to  Boston  to  await  further  orders 
from  Philadelphia.  After  a  few  more  days  of  delibera- 
tion the  marine  committee  decided  to  accept  Lang- 
don's  proposition,  and  gave  Jones  command  of  the 
Ranger.  On  the  14th  of  June  Congress  passed  two 
notable  resolutions:  the  first,  adopted  the  stars  and 
stripes  as  the  national  banner  of  the  United  States; 
the  second  appointed  Paul  Jones  to  the  command  of 
the  Ranger. 

Resolved :  That  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States 
be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white,  that  the 


THE  "RANGER"  207 

Union  be  thirteen  stars,  white  on  a  blue  field,  repre- 
senting a  new  constellation. 

Resolved:  That  Captain  Paul  Jones  be  appointed 
to  command  the  ship  Ranger. 

These  resolutions  were  not  simultaneous,  and  were 
passed  among  some  sixteen  others  during  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  day;  but,  following  the  conclusions  of 
Jones's  first  biographer,  the  impression  became  very 
prevalent  that  Congress  intended  to  honor  Paul  Jones 
in  their  juxtaposition,  and  to  link  his  name  in  glorious 
union  with  the  first  mention  of  the  stars  and  stripes. 
Several  of  his  later  biographers  have  repeated  the  mis- 
statement and  still  further  promulgated  the  error.  No 
claim  to  the  honor  was  ever  made  by  Jones  himself, 
and  there  is  no  evidence  to  indicate  that  there  was 
any  intentional  significance  in  the  action  of  Congress. 

On  the  18th  of  June  the  marine  committee,  deter- 
mined to  aid  their  favorite  officer  in  every  way  in  their 
power,  wrote  him  a  most  flattering  letter,  giving  him 
unlimited  orders  and  authorizing  him,  with  Colonel 
Langdon  and  Captain  Whipple,  to  engage  and  com- 
mission his  officers.  With  the  near  prospect  of  action, 
Jones's  feelings  now  became  hopeful  and  even  opti- 
mistic. He  proceeded  with  eager  alacrity  to  the  busi- 
ness of  manning  his  vessel.  The  Ranger  was  a  new 
full-rigged  ship  of  war,  small  but  fast-sailing,  and  he 
was  delighted  with  her.  She  was  originally  provided 
with  twenty-six  guns,  but  Jones  decided  that  she  was 
incapable  of  carrying  more  than  eighteen  six-pounders. 

On  the  2d  of  July  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Captain 
Parke,  of  Providence,  asking  his  aid  in  enlisting  his 


208  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

crew,  saying  that  he  considered  the  Ranger  "the  best 
cruiser  in  America,"  and  to  Louis  Charrier,  of  New 
Bedford,  whose  assistance  he  also  requested,  that "  since 
the  establishment  of  our  Navy,  no  person  in  it  has  had 
so  good,  so  fair  a  prospect  of  success."  About  this 
time  he  met  with  his  brother  officers  in  Boston  to  de- 
cide upon  the  uniform  for  the  American  navy.  It  is 
evident  from  his  correspondence  that  although  he  was 
displeased  with  the  manners  and  abilities  of  some  of 
them,  he  was  on  friendly  terms  with  many  who  un- 
doubtedly better  deserved  his  approbation.  His  rela- 
tions with  Captain  McNeill,  of  North  Carolina,  based 
on  the  pleasant  associations  which  always  attached 
him  to  the  home  of  his  benefactors,  were  very  intimate 
and  prolonged  for  many  years.  During  this  time  he 
formed  a  friendship  with  Major  Frazer,  another  South- 
ern officer  of  good  birth  and  education,  with  some  ex- 
perience in  the  Continental  army.  In  various  letters, 
preserved  in  the  collection  of  Jones's  correspondence 
in  Washington,  there  are  glimpses  of  their  mutual  as- 
sociations during  his  stay  in  Boston.  Abraham  Liv- 
ingston and  William  Turnbull,  merchants  and  Conti- 
nental agents  in  that  city,  are  referred  to  by  Frazer  as 
part  of  "our  Boston  family,"  which  would  indicate  that 
they  had  all  been  stopping  together  at  some  boarding- 
house  in  Boston,  one  of  those  centres  of  hospitality 
described  in  the  memoirs  of  the  time,  where  Conti- 
nental officers  and  sympathizers  with  the  patriot  cause 
were  wont  to  meet  in  friendly  and  often  convivial 
companionship.  These  men  were  evidently  warmly 
attached  to  Jones  and  were  on  the  most  friendly  and 


THE  "RANGER"  209 

serviceable  terms  with  him.  He  furnished  his  enthu- 
siastic friend  Frazer  with  ample  funds,  and  recom- 
mended him  for  the  position  of  senior  captain  of  the 
marine  corps,  which  was  to  sail  on  the  Ranger,  an 
appointment  which  the  major  avowed  he  desired  for 
"amusement"  and  the  opportunity  afforded  for  the 
free  passage  to  Europe.  Hearing  of  the  previous  ap- 
pointment of  Captain  Roach  to  the  Ranger,  and  of 
certain  charges  which  led  to  his  suspension,  Jones, 
with  great  delicacy,  prolonged  his  stay  in  Boston  for 
a  number  of  days  before  proceeding  to  Portsmouth 
to  take  command  of  the  ship.  His  letter,  despatched 
to  Captain  Roach  on  the  12th  of  July,  furnishes  the 
best  possible  proof  of  the  real  kindness  of  his  attitude 
to  his  brother  officers: 

Portsmouth,  July  12th,  1777. 
Sir:— 

I  am  come  here  on  a  disagreeable  errand,  to  super- 
sede you,  against  whom  I  have  no  cause  of  complaint. 
Delicacy  would  not  permit  my  more  early  appearance. 
I  wish  to  give  you  time  to  consider  whether  your  sus- 
pension can  be  in  any  respect  owing  to  me.  You  must 
be  convinced  that  it  was  not,  when  you  recollect  that 
I  was  appointed  to  command  a  far  better  ship  than  the 
Ranger.  Besides,  I  think  you  believe  me  incapable  of 
baseness.  You  will  have  an  opportunity  of  disprov- 
ing whatever  may  have  been  said  to  your  disadvan- 
tage, and  the  charges  against  you,  whatever  they  are, 
must  be  supported  by  incontestable  facts.  Otherwise, 
they  will  gain  no  credit  with  men  of  candor  and  inge- 
nuity. Your  present  calamity  may  yet  terminate  in 
your  future  happiness,  when  it  appears  that  you  have 
been  wrongfully  charged.    You  will  be  entitled  to  a 


210  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

greater  share  of  public  good  will  and  approbation  than 
you  could  otherwise  have  claimed. 
I  wish  you  well,  and  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient, 

Very  humble  Servant, 

Jno.  P.  Jones. 

By  his  considerate  delay  in  Boston,  Jones  missed 
the  opportunity  of  joining  in  the  Fourth  of  July  cele- 
bration which  took  place  in  Portsmouth  on  the  first 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  A 
contemporaneous  account  relates  the  manner  in  which 
the  day  was  observed. 

From  the  Freeman 's  Journal,  Saturday,  July  12, 
1777: 

Friday,  the  Fourth  of  July,  being  the  anniversary  of 
American  Independency,  the  day  was  celebrated  with 
joy  and  festivity.  The  forts  and  batteries  fired  a  num- 
ber of  cannon.  Captain  Thomson  gave  a  general  in- 
vitation to  all  true  friends  to  America  and  Indepen- 
dency to  repair  on  board  the  Continental  Frigate  at 
twelve  o'clock,  where  a  cold  collation  was  provided  to 
refresh  the  visitors.  At  one  o'clock  the  following  toasts 
(toast)  was  drank  throughout  the  ship, — prosperity, 
freedom  and  independency  to  the  thirteen  United  States 
of  America,  which  was  proclaimed  by  firing  thirteen 
guns  on  board  the  frigate,  secondly  the  guns  from  the 
French  ship  and  the  Portsmouth  private  ship  of  war, 
which  was  succeeded  with  three  cheers  from  the  Raleigh 
and  answered  by  the  other  ships,  and  a  large  con- 
course of  people  which  were  assembled  on  the  wharfs, 
testified  their  joy  and  approbation  on  this  ever  mem- 
orable day,  which  ought  never  to  be  forgot  by  all  the 
lovers  of  liberty. 


THE  "RANGER"  211 

On  this  occasion  it  would  have  been  highly  appro- 
priate to  unfurl  for  the  first  time  the  new  national  ban- 
ner. Although  it  was  not  hoisted  in  battle  and  on  land 
until  August  6,  over  Fort  Stanwix,  Boston  and  Ports- 
mouth were  in  a  much  more  direct  line  of  travel  from 
Philadelphia  than  that  far-distant  post,  and  might 
easily  have  received  the  announcement  of  its  adoption 
a  month  earlier.  As  Paul  Jones  had  by  this  time  re- 
ceived the  news  of  his  appointment  to  the  Ranger,  which 
was  made  on  the  same  day  as  the  adoption  of  the  new 
flag,  it  is  probable  that  the  latter  resolution  had  been 
promulgated  in  Portsmouth,  and  that  flags  of  the  new 
design  were  prepared  and  hoisted  from  the  ships  and 
forts  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  But  the  honor  of  first  un- 
furling the  stars  and  stripes  from  a  ship  of  war,  which 
has  also  been  claimed  for  Paul  Jones,  is  not  supported 
by  historical  evidence.  If  he  had  been  lucky  enough 
to  have  had  the  opportunity  of  first  unfurling  the  new 
national  banner  from  the  Ranger,  it  is  not  to  be  be- 
lieved that  he  would  have  omitted  to  mention  the  fact. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Portsmouth,  Jones  imme- 
diately set  about  the  business  of  equipping  and  man- 
ning his  ship.  In  the  enlisting  of  his  crew  he  found 
considerable  difficulty,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  crews 
of  the  Alfred  and  the  Providence,  he  undertook  to  aid 
the  poverty-stricken  government  by  advancing  a  por- 
tion of  their  wages.  The  seamen  refused  to  engage 
for  more  than  one  cruise,  and  the  advance  of  twenty 
dollars  promised  in  the  publicly  posted  hand-bills  was 
agreed  to  by  Congress  only  on  condition  of  a  longer 
engagement.    Jones,  realizing  that  these  men  must 


212  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

enter  with  contentment  upon  their  service,  wrote 
to  Lieutenant  Elijah  Hall,  engaging  himself  to  ad- 
vance the  sum  promised,  and  promising  also  to  leave 
a  sum  in  Boston  for  half  the  monthly  wages  of  the 
crew,  to  be  drawn  upon  by  their  families  during  their 
absence.  The  patriotic  character  of  this  generous  action 
needs  no  comment. 

The  month  of  July  was  spent  in  the  tedious  busi- 
ness of  equipping  the  Ranger,  and  the  time  dragged  on 
very  slowly  during  the  hot  days  of  the  summer.  Jones 
wrote  frequently  to  his  friends  Parke  and  Charrier, 
urging  them  to  hasten  the  business  of  enlisting  the 
crew.  At  the  end  of  July  he  finally  reported  as  to  his 
progress  and  plans  to  Robert  Morris,  expressing  his 
already  fully  matured  ideas  as  to  the  best  methods  of 
carrying  on  the  war  on  the  coast  of  England.  "I 
have  ardently  wished  for  an  opportunity  of  distinguish- 
ing myself  in  an  enterprising  command,"  he  wrote, 
"and  I  agree  with  you  that  our  infant  fleet  cannot 
protect  our  own  coast,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  em- 
ployed to  draw  off  the  enemy's  attention  by  attacking 
their  defenceless  places.  I  am  persuaded  that  even 
with  a  trifling  force,  it  is  practicable  to  lay  some  of  the 
enemy's  cities  under  contribution,  and  to  do  indefinite 
damage  to  their  shipping.  I  know  them  to  be  subject 
to  panic  under  the  least  surprise,  and  the  business  may 
be  effected  before  they  have  time  for  recollection." 
The  period  of  inactivity  and  delay  in  equipping  the 
Ranger  was  destined  to  be  prolonged  to  a  far  greater 
extent  than  Jones  had  anticipated,  and  many  weeks, 
and  even  months,  were  to  pass  before  he  could  finally 


THE  "RANGER"  213 

set  sail  for  the  adventure  which  he  so  ardently  de- 
sired; but  the  tedium  of  his  days  was  soon  relieved 
by  the  news  of  the  near  proximity  of  his  friend  Hewes 
at  Boston. 

A  letter  from  John  Adams  to  his  wife,  dated  July 
11,  which  was  to  be  carried  by  Hewes  himself,  states 
that  he  departed  from  Philadelphia  on  that  date  to 
go  to  Boston.  Adams's  letter  contains  a  character- 
istically clear  description  of  his  distinguished  messen- 
ger. "Hewes  has  a  sharp  eye,  a  keen  penetrating 
sense,  but  what  is  of  much  more  importance,  is  a  man 
of  honor  and  integrity.  I  hope  you  will  treat  him  with 
all  the  complacence  due  to  his  character.  I  almost 
envy  him  the  journey  although  he  travels  for  his 
health,  which  at  present  is  infirm." 

On  the  27th  Jones  sent  Hewes  the  following  singu- 
larly affectionate  and  confiding  appeal  for  reinstate- 
ment in  his  rank.  He  sent  with  this  letter  a  packet 
containing  various  documents  supporting  his  claim 
for  reinstatement,  and  asking  that  his  friends  Living- 
ston and  Turabull,  in  whose  care  he  addressed  the 
letter,  should  also  inspect  its  contents  and  give  him 
their  opinion  and  advice: 

Portsmouth  Augt.  17th,  1777. 
My  Dear  and  Honored  Sir 

Inclosed  you  have  sundry  letters  &ca.  which  you 
are  at  liberty  to  use  at  discretion — for  I  can  unbosom 
myself  to  you  with  the  utmost  confidence.  You  have 
laid  me  under  the  most  singular  obligations  &  you 
are  indeed  the  Angel  of  my  happiness;  since  to  your 
Friendship  I  owe  my  present  enjoyments,  as  well  as 


214  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

my  future  prospects.  I  will  not  attempt  to  thank 
you  by  letter — but  endeavor  to  prove  by  my  conduct 
that  your  Friendship  and  good  opinion  is  not  mis- 
placed. 

I  do  not  at  present  expect  an  alteration  to  take  place 
in  the  line  of  Rank — but  I  will  hope  for  a  Seperate 
Command,  by  which  I  may  be  enabled  to  distinguish 
myself  in  the  Service;  for  I  should  esteem  it  a  greater 
disgrace  and  a  worse  hardship,  to  be  set  under  the 
command  of  any  Man  who  was  not  in  the  Navy  as 
early  as  myself,  than  to  be  fairly  Broke  and  expelled 
the  Service — especially  as  the  Man  I  speak  of  cannot 
plead  Superiour  knowledge,  or  Superiour  Services;  and 
many  of  them  with  whom  I  have  conversed,  McNeill 
among  the  rest,  have  had  candour  enough  to  acknowl- 
edge that  they  did  not  expect  to  come  into  the  Service 
in  any  other  Capacity  than  as  Junior  Officers.  I  aver 
that  many  of  them  durst  not  step  forth  at  the  begin- 
ning in  such  ships  as  the  Alfred  then  was,  and  at  a  time 
when  Independence  had  not  even  been  mentioned  out 
of  doors.  I  know  what  misfortune  is,  and  I  dare  meet 
it  again,  in  its  most  frightful  aspect,  rather  than  lose 
my  Rank.  There  are  characters,  among  the  thirteen 
in  the  list,  who  are  truely  contemptible,  with  such,  as 
a  private  Gentleman,  I  would  disdain  to  Sit  down,  I 
would  disdain  to  be  acquainted.  I  am  no  prophet, 
but,  an  alteration  in  the  Navy  Rank  will  take  place 
at  a  period  not  far  distant.  Justice  will  point  out  the 
Necessity  of  that  alteration.  Should  it  not  take  place 
will  it  not  leave  room  for  reflection? — and  how  will  any 
Gentleman  now  in  the  Service  be  assured  that  he  will 
not  also  be  superceded  by  men  of  Presumptive  abilities? 
I  am  very  far  from  meaning  to  reflect  on  the  Gentle- 
men who  drew  that  line  of  Rank.  I  am  persuaded 
that  it  was  done  with  intentional  Impartiality;  but 
they  have  been  misled  by  misrepresentation;  and  their 


THE  "RANGER"  215 

not  being  long  conversant  in  Navy  matters  laid  them 
open  to  opposition.  I  esteem  several  of  the  thirteen 
Captains  by  whom  I  am  at  present  superceded — but 
until  they  give  proof  of  their  superiour  abilities  I  never 
shall  acknowledge  them  as  my  Senior  Officers — I  never 
will  act  under  their  command. 

I  enclose  a  Copy  of  my  letter  to  the  Marine  Com- 
mittee on  the  subject  of  Rank  when  I  supposed  my- 
self superceded  by  one  man;  and  I  am  by  no  means 
inclined  to  retract  my  sentiments  now,  that  I  find 
(my)  self  superseded  by  a  number. — If  I  had  deserved 
this,  I  am  unworthy  of  bearing  a  Commission,  I  am 
unworthy  of  drawing  my  sword  in  the  Cause  of  Free- 
men. I  am  uncertain  whether  Mr.  Morris  did  or  did 
not  think  it  expedient  to  lay  that  matter  before  the 
Committee — perhaps  he  did  not.  I  would  not  make 
a  difficulty  about  trifles,  but  this  is  no  trifle  to  me.  I 
have  last  winter  Paid  off  the  sloop  Providence,  and  ship 
Alfred  from  the  beginning;  and  from  the  date  of  my 
first  Commission  until  now,  I  have  received  no  more 
public  money,  as  an  individual,  than  the  Fifty  pounds 
which  was  Ordered  by  the  Committee  this  time  Twelve 
Month  to  provide  Cabin  Stores  at  Philadelphia  and 
I  have  now  no  prospect  of  a  Settlement.  In  the  time 
of  Twelve  Weeks,  including  the  time  of  fitting  out  the 
Alfred  at  Rhode  Island,  I  took  twenty  four  prizes — 
among  which  was  only  one  Sloop — and  I  have  received 
little  more  than  three  Thousand  Dollars  as  my  share 
of  prize  Money.  Yet  these  and  a  thousand  other  dis- 
agreeable circumstances  I  consider  as  trifles — but,  to 
be  superseded  after  all  is  insupportable. — The  Ranger's 
Top-Sails  will  be  sent  to-morrow — and  I  hope  to  over- 
come all  the  Difficulty  that  subsisted  when  I  took  this 
Command  and  to  have  the  Ranger  at  sea  much  sooner 
than  any  other  ship  in  the  Service  hath  yet  been.  I 
may  venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  not  one  of  the  thir- 


216  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

teen  persons  in  question  who  would  in  my  situation, 
proceed  to  sea  without  a  settlement — yet  I  will  go. 

I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  many  distinctions  and 
preferences  which  I  have  lately  experienced  from  Con- 
gress, as  well  as  from  the  Marine  and  Secret  Com- 
mittees. I  am  incapable  of  Ingratitude,  and  ardently 
wish  to  be  employed  in  such  Enterprising  services,  as 
will  convince  them  that  I  have  not  deserved  their 
former  neglect.  I  now  understand  that  the  Raleigh 
and  Alfred  are,  by  the  advice  of  Captain  Whipple  and 
Colo.  Langdon,  destined  for  France  in  Order  to  pro- 
vide the  Raleigh  with  Stores,  altho'  she  is  now  Laden 
as  deep  as  a  Merchant  Ship.  I  mention  this  as  there 
is  a  probability  of  our  Junction  there  and  I  am  pre- 
determined not  to  serve  under  that  dull  inactive  Gen- 
ius,1 who  would  serve  with  more  reputation  in  a  Dock 
Yard  than  as  a  Commander  in  the  Navy.  There  are 
Frigets  now  building  and  lately  built  in  France  that 
mount  Thirty  two  Guns  on  One  Deck — I  wish  for  the 
Command  of  one  of  these  Ships — and  indeed  for  the 
present,  we  ought  to  build  Ships  of  no  other  Construc- 
tion— they  sail  exceedingly  fast,  and  are  capable  of 
carrying  Eighteen  pounders. 

Please  to  put  the  complaint  against  Captain  Manly 
into  the  hands  of  General  Warren — it  will  give  me 
much  pleasure  to  hear  from  you  before  you  leave  Bos- 
ton, and  I  request  yours  and  Mr.  Livingston's  free 
sentiments  and  advice  on  this  letter.  I  have  had  the 
greatest  respect  for  his  Father  and  for  Colo.  R.  H. 
Lee  and  could  be  happy  in  corresponding  with  them. 

Please  to  inform  me  to  whom  you  Communicate  the 
paper  which  I  shewed  you  in  Philadelphia,  and  whether 
you  think  it  prudent  for  me  to  shew  it  to  any  person 
this  way.    You  will  soon  hear  of  my  destination.    I 

1  Captain  Thompson,  of  the  Raleigh,  afterward  dismissed  from  the 
navy. 


THE  "RANGER"  217 

can  write  you  to  Philadelphia  before  I  sail.    I  will  hope 
to  hear  from  you  in  France  should  I  proceed  there. 

I  have  many  things  to  say  on  Navy  Matters — but 
must  at  Present  conclude  with  repeating  what  I  have 
repeatedly  advanced — I  mean  that  short  enlistments 
are  Incompatible  with  the  Necessary  Subordination  of 
a  Navy— therefore  I  aver  that  the  Seamen  of  these 
States  ought  to  be  Registered  and  made  subject  to 
serve  in  their  turns  for  three  years  at  one  time.  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  with  much  respect  and  perfect 
Esteem, 

Sir, 

Your  very  Obliged 
Very  Obedient 

Most  humble  Servant 

J.P.J. 
The  Honble. 

Joseph  Hewes. 

No  efforts  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Hewes,  devoted  as 
he  was  to  Jones's  interests,  produced  any  result.  By 
the  25th  of  August,  as  stated  in  one  of  Frazer's  letters, 
"Mr.  Hewes  has  gone  to  the  southward,"  and  another 
of  Abraham  Livingston's  states  that  the  letter  to 
Hewes,  which  had  been  sent  to  his  care,  had  safely 
arrived,  but  not  the  packet  which  accompanied  it. 
The  letter  from  Livingston  is  kind,  even  paternal  in 
tone.  He  advises  Jones  to  refrain  from  criticism  of 
his  brother  officers,  and  promises  to  "do  the  needful" 
in  the  way  of  presenting  his  letter  to  Hewes  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  it  was  his  expectation  of  meeting  him 
before  long,  avowing  that  if  he  fails  to  serve  him  it 
will  be  for  lack  of  opportunity  rather  than  of  desire. 

This  was  the  sort  of  influence  which  always  calmed 


218  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Jones  instantly  and  restored  his  equilibrium,  as  is 
shown  in  the  following  brief  letter  to  Hewes,  in  which 
he  recapitulates  the  situation  in  a  spirit  of  perfect  rea- 
sonableness and  promises  to  pay  obedient  attention  to 
his  advice: 

Portsmouth  Septr.  1st,  1777. 
My  dear  and  honored  Sir 

Inclosed  you  have  copies  of  sundry  letters  &c. 
which  I  forwarded  to  you  on  the  17th  Ulto.  under 
cover  to  Messrs.  Livingston  and  Turnbull  and  which 
I  fully  expected  would  have  reached  your  hands  in 
Boston,  but  by  carelessness  or  otherwise  the  Packet 
hath  never  reached  their  hands  and  is  I  fear  entirely 
lost.  Inclosed  you  have  also  the  copy  of  my  letter  of 
the  24th  to  Mr.  Morris,  and  of  the  30th  to  the  Com- 
missioners at  Paris.  The  reason  of  my  then  writing 
to  Mr.  Morris  appears  in  the  letter.  I  look  up  to  him 
and  to  you  with  sentiments  of  the  highest  esteem  and 
Gratitude  and  my  first  wish  is  to  appear  deserving 
in  his  and  in  your  sight  and  to  have  it  in  my  power 
to  render  Eminent  Services  to  America.  Perhaps  my 
fears  have  been  needless.  I  will  rely  on  the  goodness 
of  Congress.  I  hope  they  will  not  put  me  under  the 
command  of  men  who  durst  or  did  not  embark  in  the 
Navy  before  the  7th  of  December,  1775,  for  I  assure 
you  I  dread  such  dishonor  worse  than  Death.  I  can 
have  no  desire  to  decline  the  service  while  the  liberties 
of  America  are  doubtful.  It  is  my  pride  and  glory 
that  I  was  one  of  the  first  who  endeavored  to  defend 
her  Just  rights;  suffer  me  but  to  continue  in  the  line 
wherein  I  embarked.  I  ask  no  more,  or  if  that  be  too 
much,  I  am  willing  to  stand  an  examination  with  any 
one,  or  with  every  one  of  the  Thirteen  persons  by  whom 
I  am  at  present  superseded,  and  will  yield  the  point 
to  superior  services  and  abilities.    I  cannot  now  hope 


THE  "RANGER"  219 

for  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you  before  my  de- 
parture, which  is  fast  approaching.  I  however  will 
expect  that  pleasure  when  I  reach  France,  for  by  a 
late  letter  from  Mr.  Morris  to  Genl.  Whipple  it  ap- 
pears that  Congress  still  mean  that  I  should  attend 
to  my  former  Orders  from  the  Secret  Committee. 

I  am  not  disgusted,  nor  under  a  Childish  pet;  but 
I  will  continue  in  the  Service  in  the  hopes  that  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  my  present  fears  and  ap- 
prehensions will  be  finally  removed;  in  the  meantime 
I  mean  only  to  express  my  sentiments  in  decent  tho' 
manly  language.  I  confess  in  the  Overflowing  of  my 
heart  that  the  command  of  the  important  expedition 
which  was  alloted  to  me  by  Mr.  Morris  last  winter 
far  exceeded  my  expectation.  I  am  also  deeply  sensi- 
ble of  the  distinctions  and  preference  which  I  have 
since  that  time  experienced  from  Congress  and  from 
the  Marine  and  the  Secret  Committees,  and,  I  attrib- 
ute the  mistake  in  the  line  of  Rank  not  to  intention, 
but  to  your  absence,  and  to  the  partial  recommenda- 
tions which  were  then  exhibited. 

I  rely  on  your  Friendship — I  promise  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  your  advice,  and  I  most  sincerely  am 

My  dear  Sir  your  very  Obliged  very  Obedient  most 
humble  Servant 

J.  P.  J. 
The  Honble.  Joseph  Hewes. 

On  September  6  the  marine  committee  sent  Jones 
his  final  orders,  directing  him  to  sail  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible for  a  convenient  port  in  France,  and  to  report 
immediately  to  the  commissioners  upon  his  arrival. 
A  letter  of  September  7  to  his  friend  Captain  McNeill 
announces  that  he  is  at  last  ready  for  sea,  and  ex- 
presses the  wish  that  McNeill,  who  has  similar  orders 


220  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

for  Europe,  might  sail  in  his  company.  The  letter  con- 
tains a  generous  and  interesting  reference  to  the  gal- 
lant Nicholas  Biddle,  who  later  met  a  glorious  death 
in  the  explosion  of  his  ship  Randolph,  in  a  gallant 
encounter  with  an  overwhelmingly  superior  enemy: 
"It  is  reported  here  that  Captain  Biddle  hath  lately 
met  with  great  success  on  a  cruise  of  only  five  days 
from  Charlestown,  having  taken  and  carried  in  five 
Jamaica  ships,  two  of  them  ships  of  twenty  and  eigh- 
teen guns.  They  sailed  in  a  squadron  bound  for  New 
York.  The  twenty  gun  ship  ran  alongside  of  the 
Randolph  and  ordered  Biddle  to  strike,  he  answered 
'He  would  salute  first.'  The  action  was  short  with 
the  ships  of  force,  and  they  having  yielded,  their  con- 
voy was  yielded  of  course.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to 
hear  this  account,  especially  as  Biddle  hath  been  for 
a  long  time  unfortunate.  Should  it  prove  true,  it  will 
give  a  spring  to  our  Navy  operations." 

Although  ready,  as  he  supposed,  to  set  sail  by  the 
first  favoring  breeze,  two  more  additional  months  of 
intolerable  delays  were  still  to  drag  by  before  Jones 
was  finally  able  to  put  to  sea,  and  under  this  torture 
he  was  unable  to  maintain  his  reasonable  frame  of 
mind  and  became  again  a  prey  to  tormenting  reflec- 
tions. The  following  communication  to  the  marine 
committee,  dated  the  29th  of  October,  gives  a  lively 
idea  of  some  of  the  annoyances  he  was  subjected  to 
during  this  trying  period: 

With  all  my  industry  I  could  not  get  a  single  suit 
of  sail  completed  until  the  twentieth  current.  Since 
that  time  the  winds  and  weather  have  laid  me  under 


THE  "RANGER"  221 

the  necessity  of  continuing  in  port.  At  this  time  it 
blows  a  very  heavy  gale  from  the  northeast;  the  ship 
with  difficulty  rides  it  out,  with  yards  and  topmasts 
struck  and  whole  cables  ahead.  When  it  clears  up  I 
expect  the  wind  from  the  northwest  and  shall  not  fail 
to  embrace  it,  altho'  I  have  not  now  a  spare  sail,  nor 
materials  to  make  one.  Some  of  those  I  have  are  made 
of  Hissings,  a  coarse  thin  stuff.  I  never  before  had 
so  disagreeable  a  service  to  perform  as  that  which  I 
have  now  accomplished,  and  of  which  another  will 
claim  the  credit  as  well  as  the  profit.  However,  in 
doing  my  utmost,  I  am  sensible  that  I  have  done  no 
more  than  my  duty.  I  have  now  to  acknowledge  the 
honor  of  having  received  your  orders  of  the  6th  Ulto., 
and  that  I  have  before  me  the  pleasing  prospect  of 
being  the  welcome  messenger  at  Paris  of  the  joyous 
and  welcome  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  I  have 
received  despatches  from  the  Council  of  Massachu- 
setts for  the  Commissioners,  by  express.  I  shall  there- 
fore not  go  out  of  my  course  unless  I  see  a  fair  op- 
portunity of  distressing  the  enemy,  and  of  rendering 
services  to  America. 

On  the  30th  of  October  he  again  poured  out  the 
burden  of  his  overcharged  heart  in  the  following  fare- 
well letters  to  his  friends  Hewes  and  Morris: 

Ranger,  Portsmouth  SOth  Oct.  1777. 
My  dear  and  honored  Sir: — 

I  herewith  inclose  copies  of  my  letters  &ca.  since 
you  left  Portsmouth.  You  will  no  doubt  be  Surprised 
to  find  that  the  Ranger  is  still  in  port — but  the  Won- 
der must  cease  when  you  understand  that  with  all  my 
own  and  my  Officers  Application  and  Industry  I  have 
not  been  able  to  complete  a  Single  Suite  of  Sails  till 


222  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

within  these  few  days  past — and  other  materials  have 
been  equally  Backward.  Had  not  my  officers  exerted 
themselves  in  procuring  Materials  the  Ranger  might 
have  remained  in  port  as  long  as  the  Raleigh.  I  never 
before  had  so  disagreeable  a  service  to  perform  as  this 
which  I  have  now  accomplished,  and  of  which  Another 
will  claim  the  Credit  as  well  as  the  profit. 

I  have  been  fully  manned  for  near  two  months  past 
— so  you  may  imagine  what  I  must  have  felt  on  being 
thus  detained  by  a  heavy  Gale  from  the  N.E. — when 
it  clears  up  I  purpose  to  embrace  the  first  Wind  that 
can  carry  me  thro'  the  Enemies  lines  and  off  the  Coast. 
— I  have  received  Orders  and  despatches  from  France 
and  hope  to  be  the  welcome  Messenger  at  Paris  of 
Burgoyne's  Surrender,  &ca.,  &ca. 

I  have  now  to  inform  you  that  a  few  days  ago  I  had 
the  honor  to  receive  by  post  your  esteemed  favor  of 
the  26th  May  1776  from  Philadelphia— directed  to 
me  as  Commander  of  the  Providence  at  New  York. — 
my  best  thanks  Sir,  are  particularly  due  to  you  for  the 
Sentiments  of  Regard  therein  expressed. — this  letter 
had  I  been  in  doubt  before,  would  now  confirm  me  in 
the  belief  that  had  you  been  present  in  Congress  the 
10th  day  of  October  1776 1  should  have  held  my  proper 
Rank  in  the  Service  which  (if  I  was  worthy  of  my  first 
Commission)  is  No.  5 — not  No.  18. — 

That  I  should  be  thus  degraded  and  set  under  Thir- 
teen men,  who  durst  not  nor  did  not  Embark  in  the 
dispute,  and  in  ships  unfit  for  War  like  the  Alfred,  as 
Early  as  myself,  distracts  my  very  Soul!  A  sea  officer 
who  can  bear  to  be  superseded  by  any  man  of  Pre- 
sumptive Abilities  and  talk  or  can  think  cooly  of  it  is 
a  Villain!  I  know  one  person  among  the  Thirteen 
who,  after  I  had  embarked  in  the  Service,  made  a  private 
agreement  with  the  Captain  of  one  of  the  Enemies 
Ships  to  carry  himself,  his  Family  and  effects  off  the 


THE  "RANGER" 


223 


Continent.  This  can  at  any  time  be  proved  by  the 
testimony  of  his  Neighbors.  I  can  find  many  other 
exceptions  among  them — and  not  one  of  them  can 
teach  me  my  duty — or  will  ever  go  further  with  a  Small 
force  in  the  Service  than  I  have  already  done  and  mean 
to  do  again  whenever  an  Opportunity  offers.  I  should 
be  to  the  last  degree  Unhappy  were  it  not  for  the  hopes 
I  have  that  Congress  will  yet  do  me  right.  I  cannot 
think  of  quitting  the  Service — my  whole  mind  is  rapt 
in  the  Dispute!  But  how  shall  I  have  Spirit  to  per- 
form my  Duty  while  I  think  myself  degraded  and  out 
of  my  proper  Place?  Without  boasting,  you  know 
Sir,  that  I  have  not  deserved  this. 

As  you  have  been  pleased  to  say  in  your  letter  that 
"I  ought  to  have  Commanded  some  who  were"  (at 
the  beginning)  "placed  in  a  higher  Rank  than  myself, 
— I  shall  only  add  that  I  would  lay  down  my  life  for 
America — but  can  never  triffle  with  my  delicate  no- 
tions of  Honour. 

You  will  please  to  excuse  the  liberty  which  I  have 
taken  in  Joining  your  Name  with  that  of  my  friend 
Abraham  Livingston  in  a  General  letter  of  Attorney 
for  the  disposal  of  the  Captor's  part  of  all  prizes  that 
may  be  taken  by  the  Ranger  and  that  may  Arrive  in 
any  part  of  America — excepting  only  the  States  of 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
and  Connecticutt.  Should  you  decline  to  Act  in  be- 
half of  the  Captors  you  will  singularly  Oblige  by  Ap- 
pointing such  person  or  persons  Within  any  or  every 
of  the  Nine  States  not  excepted  as  you  think  will  do 
Justice  and  render  satisfaction.  As  you  know  that 
the  Credit  of  the  Service  depends  not  only  on  dealing 
fairly  with  the  men  Employed  in  it,  but  on  their  belief 
that  they  are  and  will  be  fairly  dealt  with. 

You  will  also  be  pleased  to  excuse  the  liberty  I  have 
taken  by  inserting  the  Esteemed  Names  of  Robert 


224  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Morris  and  Joseph  Hewes  in  my  own  private  Letter 
of  Attorney  and,  as  Executors,  in  my  Will — both  of 
which  will  be  herewith  forwarded  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Morris  with  Duplicates  for  you. 

Major  Frazer  goes  with  me  as  a  Volunteer — He 
wishes  to  have  an  Employment  in  the  Marine  Service 
— and  desires  to  assist  me  on  my  private  Enterprize — 
he  hath  given  a  description  so  truly  Elysian  to  a  small 
Estate  on  the  Mattapony,  Virginia,  that  I  wish  to 
become  the  purchaser.  He  writes  his  friend  Colo. 
Braxton  thro'  the  Hands  of  Mr.  Morris  to  whom  I  will 
transmit  the  necessary  Sum —  I  wish  you  could  satisfy 
yourself  respecting  the  Situation  and  properties  of 
the  Lands  &c.  before  the  purchase. 

I  most  ardently  wish  for  the  Command  of  some 
Spirited  private  Enterprize  whereby  I  may  be  enabled 
to  prove  that  I  have  not  merited  the  disgrace  of  being 
Superseded. 

I  will  hope  to  hear  frequently  from  you  while  in 
France  to  care  of  Thos.  Morris,  Esqr.,  Agent  Nantes 
— in  the  meantime  I  am  with  Grateful  Sentiments  of 
perfect  Esteem  and  regard, 
Dear  Sir 

Your  very  much  Obliged 
Most  humble  Servt. 

J.  P.  J. 
The  Honorable 

Joseph  Hewes. 

Ranger,  Portsmouth  30th  October,  1777. 
Honored  and  dear  Sir 

I  herewith  inclose  duplicates  of  my  letters  &ca.  to 
you  since  I  took  command  of  the  Ranger — I  have  left 
open  the  letters  and  papers  &ca.  directed  for  Mr. 
Hewes  which  I  beg  of  you  to  peruse  before  you  forward 
them. — my  situation  is  a  truly  delicate  one — Super- 


THE  "RANGER"  225 

seded  by  thirteen  persons,  not  one  of  whom  had  em- 
barked in  the  Navy  when  my  first  Commission  was 
dated — some  of  whom  durst  not  or  at  least  did  not 
then  nor  for  many  months  afterwards  avow  their  Re- 
publican Sentiments  but  were  on  the  other  side,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  private  Testimony  of  their  Neigh- 
bors— not  one  of  whom  is  better  acquainted  with  Navy 
matters  than  myself — and  several  of  whom  are  alto- 
gether illiterate  and  Utterly  ignorant  of  Marine  af- 
fairs.— this  is  my  situation,  and  the  more  I  think  of 
it  the  more  Unhappy  I  am, — when  I  reach  France 
I  must  expect  to  meet  with  Gentlemen  who  consider 
themselves  as  my  Senior  Officers  and  by  whom  I  am 
superseded — in  acknowledging  their  Seniority  must  I 
not  also  obey  their  Commands  and  Confess  that  their 
Promotion  over  me  was  the  Reward  of  their  Superiour 
Service  and  abilities — and  how  much  must  I  then  be 
humbled!  may  not  the  World  believe  that  others  have 
cast  me  thus  far  at  a  distance  and  thrown  me  out  in 
the  pursuit  of  Honor — the  thought  distracts  my  very 
Soul! — Why  alas!  should  my  Honor  and  my  Duty  seem 
incompatible? — tho  this  may  appear  a  Solecism  yet 
it's  reality  affects  me  more  than  all  the  former  misfor- 
tune of  my  Life — some  of  them  were  perhaps  br'ot 
about  by  my  own  misconduct — this  I  am  sure  was  not, 
— I  cannot  think  of  quitting  the  Service  especially 
while  the  liberties  of  America  are  Unconfirmed — I 
must  therefore  look  up  to  you  as  my  Patron  and  Pro- 
tector— Shall  I  take  the  liberty  to  add,  as  my  kind 
Friend  and  Benefactor — with  full  dependence  that  you 
will  do  your  Utmost  to  set  me  right  so  as  to  enable 
me  to  continue  in  the  Service. 

In  my  letter  of  28th.  July  I  mentioned  Major  Frazer 
of  Virginia — that  Gentleman  goes  with  me  as  a  Vol- 
unteer as  he  wishes  to  be  employed  in  the  Marine  Ser- 
vice— should  that  be  agreeable  to  Congress  he  will, 


226  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

from  his  rank  in  the  Army,  be  Senior  Officer  in  the  Ma- 
rines— and  he  expresses  a  strong  desire  to  accompany 
me  in  any  private  Expedition — it  is  my  first  and  most 
ardent  Wish  to  be  entrusted  with  the  Command  of 
some  Spirited  Enterprise — where  I  can  have  an  Oppor- 
tunity of  proving  that  I  have  not  merited  the  disgrace 
of  being  superseded. 

I  must  beg  you  to  pardon  the  Liberty  I  have  taken 
in  inserting  the  Esteemed  names  of  Robert  Morris  and 
Joseph  Hewes  in  a  private  letter  of  Attorney;  and,  as 
Executors,  in  my  Will,  both  of  which  are  herewith 
inclosed — Inclosed  is  also  a  letter  from  Major  Frazer 
to  his  friend  Col1.  Braxton  of  Virginia  respecting  the 
purchase  of  a  small  estate  on  the  Mattapony  which  I 
must  request  you  to  forward  or  not  as  you  think  most 
for  my  benefit  agreeable  to  the  letter  of  Attorney — I 
would  only  observe  that  I  should  be  glad  to  own  such 
place  as  that  is  by  description,  but  Col0.  Braxton  will 
give  you  a  better  account  of  it. — 

Altho'  I  have  not  'till  now  been  able  to  get  in  readi- 
ness with  the  Ranger — yet  I  assure  you  my  utmost 
Efforts  have  not  been  wanting.  The  Ship  was  Manned 
in  very  little  time  indeed  the  only  instance  of  the  kind 
that  I  remember  in  the  Service — I  have  an  Orderly 
well  disciplined  and  spirited  Crew  consisting  of  an 
hundred  and  forty  odd — and  since  the  first  of  Septr. 
our  Department  hath  been  Impeded  Soly  thro'  the 
want  of  Canvass  and  many  of  the  principle  materials. — 

May  I  indulge  myself  in  the  hope  of  hearing  from 
you  in  France?  Nothing  could  afford  so  much  relief 
to  my  anxious  mind.  I  attribute  my  not  having  had 
that  Honor  since  I  came  here  to  the  commotions  in 
Pennsylvania — and  to  your  Opinion  of  my  more  early 
departure. 

As  the  dirty  and  Ungrateful  insinuations  of  the  late 
Commodore  Esek  Hopkins  to  the  Committee  in  March 


THE  "RANGER"  227 

last  hath  given  me  much  concern — I  have  taken  the 
liberty  to  inclose  a  letter  which  I  rec.  on  that  subject 
from  Mr.  Jarvis  after  my  return  to  Boston — I  know 
that  you  were  perfectly  Satisfied  before — and  I  hope 
every  other  Gentleman  was  so.  But  I  will  leave  no 
room  for  refutation. 

John  Wendell  Esqr.  of  this  Place,  a  Gentleman  of 
great  landed  Interest  and  of  an  extensive  Circle  of 
Friends  in  Congress,  has  had  the  goodness  to  write  a 
variety  of  letters  in  my  behalf  respecting  the  line  of 
rank  and  Command.  His  friends  will  from  his  remon- 
strance mention  the  matter  to  you — and  he  expects 
use  their  utmost  interest  in  Congress — however  I  would 
not  wish  to  create  a  General  Uneasiness  in  the  Service 
— if  I  am  entrusted  with  the  Command  of  an  expidi- 
tion  and  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  Succeed  in  it — 
no  exception  can  then  be  taken  at  my  promotion. 

The  Inclosed  Receipt  from  Major  Gardner  will  I 
believe  Sufficiently  explain  the  Situation  of  My  little 
private  concerns  in  the  Eastern  States  If  I  knew  any 
men  whom  I  could  esteem  more  than  yourself  and 
Mr.  Hewes  I  would  not  have  given  you  this  trouble — 
Should  any  letters  Appear  for  me  directed  to  your  care 
in  consequence  of  the  Indulgent  liberty  which  you 
gave  me — I  am  sure  they  will  be  duly  forwarded,  I  am 
with  a  Heart  overflowing  with  Sentiments  of  perfect 
Gratitude  Esteem  and  respect, 

Honored  and  dear  Sir 
Your  Very  Obliged 
very  obedient 

most  humble  Servant, 
The  Honb,c  J.  P.  J. 

Robt.  Morris. 

It  is  perfectly  easy  to  discern  in  this  very  full  pres- 
entation of  Jones's  thoughts  to  his  confidential  friends 


228  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  true  motives  of  his  conduct.  Under  the  degree 
of  suffering  expressed  in  these  letters,  it  must  always 
be  remembered  to  his  credit  that  he  did  not  quit  the 
service  in  disgust.  We  see  here  no  complaint  of  vanity 
at  the  deprivation  of  his  command  of  the  fleet  which 
was  promised  to  him,  but  bitter  and  agonized  resent- 
ment crying  aloud  in  reiterated  protest  against  the  in- 
sult of  his  degradation  in  rank.  The  line  of  demarca- 
tion which  divides  the  one  from  the  other  is  perfectly 
clear,  and  should  be  observed  at  this  time  and  care- 
fully borne  in  mind  if  any  accurate  estimate  of  Jones's 
true  character  and  motives  is  to  be  reached. 

The  long  delay  had  now  come  to  an  end,  and  the 
hour  of  his  departure  was  at  hand.  His  rising  spirits 
were  further  exalted  by  the  glorious  news  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender,  which,  as  he  writes,  reached  him 
about  this  time,  and  the  official  announcement  of 
which  he  was  requested  to  carry  to  France.  Jones, 
however,  was  not  the  only  bearer  of  the  news,  for  a 
copy  only  of  the  official  document  was  given  to  him, 
the  original  having  been  already  despatched  by  John 
Loring  Austin,  secretary  to  the  Massachusetts  board 
of  war,  who  had  sailed  on  the  packet  Perch  from  Bos- 
ton on  the  31st  of  October.  A  few  more  letters  pre- 
served in  his  correspondence  supply  the  details  of  his 
final  occupations  during  these  last  days.  He  dined 
familiarly  with  the  rich  and  influential  Mr.  Wendell, 
of  Portsmouth,  whose  son,  placed  under  his  command, 
was  recommended  to  his  particular  care  and  atten- 
tion as  a  "relative  of  the  Hancocks"  and  of  Jones's 
First  Lieutenant    Simpson.    He   directed   his  friend 


THE  "RANGER"  229 

Frazer  to  write  about  the  purchase  of  his  long-dreamed- 
of  home  in  Virginia,1  testifying  in  this  way  that  his 
last  thought  on  leaving  the  country  was  of  a  final 
return  and  a  happy  residence  within  its  borders.  He 
bade  farewell  to  his  Portsmouth  friends,  and  then  he 
hoisted  the  stars  and  stripes  to  the  Ranger1  s  mast-head 
and,  on  November  2,  put  out  to  sea. 

1This  contemplated  purchase  was  never  consummated,  but  repre- 
sents the  only  reference  to  any  home  or  land  in  Virginia  existing  in 

his  MSS. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE 

Once  free  from  the  annoyances  of  delay,  which  were 
so  particularly  disturbing  to  Jones's  temper,  and  again 
afloat,  he  regained  his  normal  poise,  and  entered  into 
a  mood  of  cheerful  activity  as  native  to  his  mind  as 
the  deck  was  to  his  feet. 

The  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  lasted  a  month,  and 
as  it  was  late  in  the  year  he  encountered  toward  the 
end  of  it  much  severe  weather.  On  the  29th  of  No- 
vember, in  a  heavy  gale,  the  Ranger  hove  to  off  the 
Bay  of  Biscay.  On  Monday  the  weather  cleared  and 
they  sighted  land  from  the  mast-head,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  ran  in  for  the  shore,  just  escaping  a  sand- 
bank, but  arrived  all  in  good  spirits,  as  is  related 
in  Doctor  Ezra  Green's  quaint  little  diary,  at  "Pean- 
beauf,"  on  the  River  Loire,  near  the  port  of  Nantes, 
and  came  to  anchor  in  the  evening.  A  few  days  after 
Jones  landed  he  despatched  an  account  of  his  voyage 
to  the  marine  committee,  in  which  the  high  enthusiasm 
of  his  mood  is  clearly  shown.  The  Ranger  had  dis- 
appointed him  in  her  sailing  qualities,  but  he  makes 
no  comment  except  to  explain  how  he  intends  to 
remedy  her  defects,  and  speaks  of  his  crew  with  com- 
mendation. 

The  character  of  his  letters  altered  so  sadly  under 
the  repeated  disappointments  he  was  called  upon  to 

230 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  231 

bear  that  it  is  pleasant  to  note  the  original  qualities 
of  his  mind  before  his  misfortunes  had  put  it  out  of 
tune.  "  After  passing  the  Western  Islands, "  he  writes, 
"I  fell  in  with  and  brought  to  a  number  of  ships.  I 
took  two  brigantines  from  Malaga.  I  fell  in  with  a 
fleet  of  ten  sail  under  a  strong  convoy,  but  notwith- 
standing all  my  efforts,  was  unable  to  cut  any  of  them 
out." 

He  does  not  mention  in  this  letter  that  it  was  the 
Invincible,  a  British  ship  of  seventy-four  guns,  which 
was  convoying  this  fleet  out  of  the  Mediterranean,  a 
possible  reason  for  this  omission  being  that  he  was 
reluctant  to  confess  that  he  had  lost  two  days  in  the 
hopeless  chase,  and  in  so  doing  had  missed  the  oppor- 
tunity of  being  the  first  to  bring  the  official  news  of 
Burgoyne's  surrender  to  the  commissioners  in  Paris. 
John  Loring  Austin  had  landed  at  Nantes  on  the  30th 
of  November,  and  by  the  time  Jones  had  arrived 
was  well  on  his  way  to  Paris  with  the  news. 

Speaking  of  the  Indien,  the  ship  which  had  been 
promised  him  by  Congress,  he  says: 

I  understand  that  the  commissioners  have  provided 
for  me  one  of  the  finest  ships  that  ever  was  built,  but 
were  under  the  necessity  of  giving  her  up.  My  un- 
feigned thanks  are  equally  due  for  the  intention  as 
for  the  act. 

This  was  the  largest  of  the  frigates  which  were  being 
built  in  Europe  under  Silas  Deane's  direction,  with 
the  aid  of  French  funds  and  French  engineers,  and 
Jones  had  been  sent  to  Europe  with  the  express  object 


232  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  assuming  her  command  as  a  recompense  for  his  de- 
prival  of  the  colonial  fleet.  The  manner  in  which  he 
accepted  this  second  disappointment  could  hardly  be 
excelled. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  which  was  the  day  after 
he  had  come  up  to  Nantes  from  Paimbceuf,  he  wrote 
for  the  first  time  to  the  commissioners,  giving  a  brief 
account  of  his  voyage  and  assuring  them  that  he  would 
await  their  orders  with  particular  pleasure.  On  the 
next  day  he  wrote  again,  giving  his  own  views  as  to 
the  best  method  of  conducting  an  aggressive  warfare 
against  the  enemy's  coast.  "I  am  here,"  he  wrote, 
"and  ready  to  receive,  and  to  pay  cheerful  and  prompt 
obedience  to  your  orders.  It  is  my  first  and  favorite 
wish  to  be  employed  in  active  and  enterprising  ser- 
vices where  there  is  a  prospect  of  rendering  acceptable 
services  to  America.  The  singular  honor  which  Con- 
gress hath  done  me,  in  their  generous  acknowledgment 
of  my  past  services  hath  inspired  me  with  sentiments 
of  gratitude  which  I  shall  carry  with  me  to  my  grave. 
I  have  always,  since  we  had  ships  of  war,  been  per- 
suaded that  small  squadrons  could  be  employed  to  far 
better  advantage  on  private  expeditions,  and  would 
distress  the  enemy  infinitely  more  than  the  same  force 
could  do  by  cruising  either  jointly  or  separately.  Were 
strict  survey  observed  on  our  part,  the  enemy  have 
many  important  places  in  such  defenceless  situations, 
that  they  might  effectually  be  surprised  and  attacked, 
with  no  very  considerable  force.  We  cannot  yet  fight 
their  Navy,  as  their  numbers  and  force  is  so  far  supe- 
rior to  ours,  therefore  it  seems  to  be  our  natural  prov- 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  233 

ince  to  surprise  their  defenceless  places  and  thereby 
divide  their  attention  and  draw  it  off  from  our  coasts." 
.  These  conclusions,  both  brief  and  lucid,  represented 
the  result  of  his  long  habit  of  close  thought  upon  the 
best  possible  methods  to  be  employed  in  fighting  the 
battles  of  his  adopted  country.  Their  wisdom  and 
common-sense  were  immediately  approved  by  the  com- 
missioners and  their  execution  left  unquestioningly 
to  the  man  who  had  conceived  them.  The  responsi- 
bility for  their  success  was  thus  put  entirely  upon  his 
shoulders. 

While  awaiting  a  reply  to  this  letter  to  the  commis- 
sioners Jones  busied  himself  with  the  task  of  refitting 
and  improving  the  Ranger,  which  needed  shorter  masts 
and  heavier  ballast.  This  tiresome  business  was  re- 
lieved by  the  pleasant  associations  he  had  formed 
with  the  group  of  Continental  agents  then  resident 
at  Nantes,  who  had  given  Jones  and  his  officers  a  most 
cordial  welcome  upon  their  arrival.  Jonathan  Will- 
iams, whom  Doctor  Green  describes  as  "a  most  amia- 
ble character,"  was  the  first  of  these.  He  was  Frank- 
lin's nephew,  and  was  afterward  distinguished  as  the 
founder  of  the  military  academy  at  West  Point.  The 
commissioners  had  appointed  him  to  his  office,  in 
association  with  Thomas  Morris  and  his  partner,  M. 
Penet,  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  and  he  occupied 
apartments  at  Nantes,  where  Jones  was  frequently  re- 
ceived. At  this  moment  of  his  ardent  youth  he  ful- 
filled to  perfection  Jones's  beau  ideal  of  "candor  and 
ingenuity,"  and  they  entered  into  a  brotherly  and 
most  loving  intimacy  from  the  very  first  moment  of 


234  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

their  meeting.  Thomas  Morris  also  owed  his  appoint- 
ment to  a  distinguished  relative,  his  half-brother, 
Robert  Morris,  but  was  very  unreliable  and  dissipated 
in  his  habits,  and  was  on  the  point  of  being  dismissed 
from  his  post  when  his  death,  a  few  weeks  after  Jones's 
arrival,  removed  him  from  his  duties.  John  Ross, 
also  employed  as  an  agent  for  the  purchase  of  supplies 
for  the  Continental  cruisers,  was  another  member  of 
this  group,  and  with  him  also  Jones  began  a  life-long 
relation  of  confidence  and  friendship.  Williams's  par- 
ticular province  was  the  forwarding  of  important  letters 
to  and  from  the  commissioners,  and  to  his  care  Jones 
intrusted  all  his  official  communications. 

Jones  found  it  necessary  to  avoid  further  association 
with  his  convivial  friend  Frazer,  who  soon  departed 
from  Nantes,  leaving  his  unpaid  notes  and  his  ser- 
vant in  Jones's  hands.  He  refers  to  him  in  the  follow- 
ing hitherto  unpublished  letter  to  his  partner,  Robert 
Morris,  too  frankly  expressive  of  his  inmost  feelings 
at  this  moment  to  be  omitted: 

Ranger }  Nantes,  11th  December  1777 
Honored  and  Dear  Sir: — 

As  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Pennsylvania,  when 
I  sailed  from  Portsmouth,  rendered  the  conveyance 
of  letters  from  the  Eastern  States  not  altogether  cer- 
tain, I  take  the  Liberty  of  inclosing  copies  of  those 
which  I  had  the  honor  of  writing  to  you  while  fitting 
out. 

It  is  not  in  my  nature  to  persist  intentionally  in  an 
error,  therefore  I  always  wish  to  take  the  earliest  op- 
portunity of  acknowledging  a  mistake;  and  as  it  now 
appears  from  the  situation  of  affairs,  and  more  espe- 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  235 

cially  from  the  important  step  that  was  taken  in  my 
favor  by  the  commissioners,  in  obedience  to  the  gen- 
erous and  liberal  sentiments  and  orders  of  the  Secret 
Committee  that  Congress  have  had  my  Honor  and 
Benefit  at  Heart;  I  must  conclude  also  that  it  is  not 
intended  to  place  me  under  the  command  of  men  who 
durst  not,  or  did  not  step  forth  as  soon  as  myself.  In 
this  flattering  belief  I  bid  defiance  to  danger,  and  enjoy 
once  more  the  cheerful  Ardour  and  Spirit,  which  alone 
can  animate  and  support  an  Officer  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty.  To  be  continued  in  the  line  wherein  I 
stepped  forth,  and  found  acceptance  at  the  beginning, 
was,  and  is  the  height  of  my  ambition;  but  for  me  to 
fight  under  men  who  held  back,  and  did  not  appear  in 
the  first  doubtful  juncture,  and  who  cannot  now  teach 
me  my  duty,  is  impossible,  nor  will  it  be  expected  by 
men  of  Candour  and  Ingenuity. 

When  I  have  the  honour  of  hearing  from  the  Com- 
missioners, I  will  return  my  thanks  to  the  Secret  Com- 
mittee, but  what  form  of  thanks  shall  I  render  to 
you?  *  *  *  *  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss,  nor  know  how  to 
begin,  the  obligations  I  owe  to  you  are  so  many,  so 
important  and  were  so  unexpected,  that  I  must  be 
grateful  indeed  did  I  not  feel  more  than  I  can  express. 
But  I  detest  flattery,  therefore  must  decline  the  sub- 
ject, lest  I  should  enrobe  fair  truth  in  that  flattering 
dress.  Yes,  sir,  I  feel  by  a  prophetic  impulse  in  my 
breast  that  I  shall  either  manifest  a  grateful  sense  of 
your  friendship  by  my  conduct  in  life,  or  by  meeting 
my  death  in  support  of  the  great  cause  wherein  you 
have  borne  so  noble  and  so  respected  a  part. 

It  gives  me  pain  to  inform  you  that  I  found  Mr. 
Frazer  to  be  a  person  different  from  what  I  thought 
him  in  America;  he  is  subject  to  drink  even  to  intoxi- 
cation, which  is  at  least  a  weakness  utterly  incom- 
patible with  the  Characteristic  of  a  good  Officer;  how- 


236  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ever,  Charity  obliges  me  to  think  it  rather  a  habit 
acquired  from  disappointment  than  a  constitutional 
Vice. 

The  care  which  France  is  now  taking  of  her  Seamen, 
ought  to  have  some  weight  with  America,  they  have 
Ships  of  War  stationed  in  all  their  Ports  to  make 
strict  search,  and  to  prevent  the  departure  of  French 
Seamen  in  foreign  Ships.  As  America  must  become 
the  first  Marine  Power  in  the  World,  the  care  and  in- 
crease of  our  seamen  is  a  consideration  of  the  first 
magnitude,  and  claims  the  full  attention  of  Congress. 
That  our  Seamen  have  decreased  is  a  sad  reality. 
That  they  will  continue  to  decrease  is  as  certain  unless 
effectual  measures  are  taken  to  prevent  it.  I  have 
seen  with  indignation,  the  sordid  Adventurers  in  Pri- 
vateers sporting  away  the  Sinews  of  our  Marine,  for 
notwithstanding  the  many  captures  that  have  been 
made,  how  trifling  a  proportion  of  Prisoners  have  been 
brought  into  our  Ports  and  given  up  for  Exchange. 
Public  virtue  is  not  the  characteristic  of  the  men  con- 
cerned in  Privateers,  no  wonder  then  that  they  let 
their  prisoners  go  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  imme- 
diately augment  the  strength  of  the  enemy's  fleet. 
Their  selfishness  furnishes  them  with  reasons  for  this 
conduct.  Were  they  to  keep  their  Prisoners,  their 
provision  would  be  sooner  consumed  which  might  per- 
haps oblige  them  to  return  home  before  they  had  suf- 
ficiently glutted  their  avarice.  Besides  there  might 
be  some  danger  from  insurrections!  These  and  the 
like  are  with  them  all  prevailing  motives,  and  bear 
down  every  public  consideration.  Were  this  base 
conduct  practiced  by  these  licensed  Robbers  alone  "I 
should  have  found  within  my  soul  one  drop  of  Pa- 
tience" but  to  find  individuals  in  our  Navy  affected 
with  the  same  foul  contagion,  racks  me  with  distress- 
ing Passions,  and  covers  me  with  Shame!    One  in- 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  237 

stance  among  many  may  be  sufficient.  The  redoubt- 
able Manly  went  near  the  entrance  of  St.  Johns  and 
disdaining  advantages,  made  the  Enemy  a  Present  of 
Eighty  Seamen  at  once.  Such  conduct  on  our  part, 
at  a  time  when  our  cruel  enemies  are  enforcing  an  act 
of  their  Parliament,  by  the  indiscriminate  confinement 
of  our  subjects  in  England's  dungeons,  not  as  Pris- 
oners of  War,  but  under  the  complicated  appellations 
of  Traitors,  Pirates  and  Felons  whose  necks  they  wish 
to  destine  to  the  cord,  and  whose  hearts  they  wish  to 
destine  to  the  flames,  is  a  wonder  "passing  strange," 
and  will  be  deemed  Romance  by  future  ages.  Were 
an  exemplary  punishment  to  be  inflicted  on  all  who 
are  thus  regardless  of  the  Interests  of  America,  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  such  infernal  Practices  would  cease 
— every  prisoner  of  whatsoever  denomination,  and  how- 
ever distant  when  taken,  ought  to  be  brought  into l 

Another  letter  of  this  time,  addressed  to  the  affluent 
Mr.  Wendell,  of  Portsmouth,  gives  a  pleasing  idea  of 
the  graceful  and  humorous  courtesy  of  his  social  atti- 
tude, quite  in  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and  a  charming 
glimpse  of  his  habitual  kindness  to  the  young  officers 
under  his  command.  He  could  already  turn  a  senti- 
mental phrase,  and  had  a  pretty  taste  of  his  own  for 
poetry: 

Ranger,  Nantes,  11th  December  1777 
My  dear  Sir: — 

The  Ranger  was  wafted  by  the  pinions  of  the  gen- 
tlest and  most  friendly  Gales  along  the  surface  of  the 
Blue  profound  of  Neptune,  and  not  the  swelling  bosom 
of  a  Friend's  or  even  an  Enemy's  Sail  appeared  within 

1  The  MS.  is  incomplete,  ending  abruptly  at  this  point, 


238  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

our  placid  horizon  until  after  we  had  passed  the  Ever- 
lasting mountains  of  the  Sea  (called  Azores)  whose 
tops  are  in  the  clouds,  and  whose  foundations  are  in 
the  center.  When  lo!  this  halcyon  season  was  inter- 
rupted! The  gathering  fleets  o'erspread  the  sea  and 
war  alarms  began,  nor  ceased  day  or  night  until  aided 
by  the  mighty  Boreas,  we  cast  Anchor  in  this  asylum 
the  2nd.  current,  but  since  I  am  not  certain  that  my 
poetry  will  be  understood,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  add, 
by  way  of  marginal  note,  that  after  leaving  Ports- 
mouth nothing  remarkable  happened  until  I  got  to 
the  eastward  of  the  Western  Islands,  and  from  that 
time  until  my  arrival  here  I  fell  in  with  ships  every 
day,  sometimes  every  hour.  My  heart  glows  with  the 
most  fervent  gratitude  for  every  unsolicited  and  unex- 
pected instance  of  the  favor  and  approbation  of  Con- 
gress, and  if  a  Life  of  Services  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  America  can  be  made  instrumental  in  Securing  its 
Independence,  I  shall  be  the  happiest  of  men.  I  es- 
teem your  son  as  a  promising  and  deserving  young 
man.  I  have  just  now  had  some  conversation  with 
him  and  am  much  pleased  with  his  diffidence  and 
modesty.  He  would  not,  he  says,  accept  of  a  commis- 
sion until  he  thinks  himself  equal  to  the  duty  of  the 
office  of  Lieutenant.  There  I  think  he  shows  the  true 
spirit.  Anything  in  my  power  to  render  his  situation 
happy  and  instructive  shall  not  be  wanting.  I  must 
rely  on  you  to  make  my  best  compliments  to  the  fair 
Miss  Wendell,  and  to  the  other  agreeable  Ladies  of  my 
acquaintance  in  Portsmouth.  I  cannot,  at  present, 
give  you  my  address,  but  will  drop  you  another  how 
do  you  do  shortly. 

On  the  17th  the  commissioners  in  Paris  replied  to 
Jones,  summoning  him,  as  soon  as  he  should  find  it 
possible,  to  proceed  thither  for  a  consultation.    On 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  239 

the  22d,  having  received  these  orders,  he  wrote  to  the 
marine  committee  that  as  the  ship  Independence  was 
still  in  port  it  was  his  duty  to  inform  them  of  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  letter  and  to  proceed  immediately  to  Paris. 
He  wrote  that  he  should  remain  away  from  his  ship  as 
brief  a  time  as  possible,  and  promised  to  use  his  best 
endeavors  to  transmit  accounts  of  his  proceedings. 
On  the  23d  he  replied  to  the  commissioners,  saying 
that  he  would  wait  to  respond  to  their  summons  only 
so  long  as  was  necessary  to  advance  the  repairs  of  the 
Ranger  to  a  point  where  they  might  progress  without 
him,  and  render  her  fit  for  sea  upon  his  return. 

It  must  have  been  very  nearly  the  new  year  when 
Paul  Jones  arrived  in  Paris  for  the  first  time,  to  enter 
into  association  with  European  diplomacy,  through  the 
American  commissioners,  and  to  enjoy  the  first  benefits 
of  his  friendship  with  Franklin.  His  credentials  from 
the  marine  committee  had  been  most  flattering,  and 
encouraging  news  from  home  lent  a  hopeful  atmosphere 
to  the  American  embassy,  for  this  is  what  the  resi- 
dence of  the  commissioners  at  Passy  was  entitled  to 
be  called. 

The  manner  of  the  announcement  of  Burgoyne's 
surrender  was  narrated  to  Jones  upon  his  arrival  and 
must  have  accentuated  his  regret  that  he  himself  had 
not  been  the  first  messenger  of  the  wonderful  news. 
A  vivid  record  of  the  scene  of  the  announcement  is 
preserved  in  an  old  and  rare  copy  of  a  Boston  monthly 
magazine: 

The  commissioners  had  assembled  at  Dr.  Franklin's 
apartments,  on  the  rumor  that  a  special  messenger 


240  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

had  arrived,  and  were  too  impatient  to  suffer  a  mo- 
ment's delay.  They  received  him  in  the  courtyard, 
before  he  had  time  to  alight.  Dr.  Franklin  addressed 
him:  "Sir,  is  Philadelphia  taken?"  "Yes  Sir."  The 
old  gentleman  clasped  his  hands  and  returned  to  the 
house.  "But  Sir,  I  have  greater  news  than  that,  Gen- 
eral Burgoyne  and  his  whole  Army  are  prisoners  of 
War."  The  effect  was  electrical;  the  dispatches  were 
scarcely  read  before  they  were  put  under  copy.  Mr. 
Austin  himself  was  impressed  into  the  service  of 
transcribing  them.  Communication  was  without  de- 
lay made  to  the  French  Minister  at  Versailles. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  from  other  contemporary 
records  that  it  was  none  other  than  Caron  de  Beau- 
marchais  who  was  the  messenger,  and  who,  with  Ar- 
thur and  William  Lee,  Silas  Deane,  Izard,  Doctor 
Bancroft,  and  Franklin,  were  dining  together  at  the 
home  of  the  commissioners  in  Passy,  to  await  Mr. 
Austin.  Beaumarchais  (that  same  impetuous  Beau- 
marchais  who  broke  the  windows  to  ventilate  Marie 
Antoinette's  little  theatre  at  Versailles  at  the  first 
performance  of  his  "Marriage  of  Figaro")  jumped 
into  his  chaise  and  drove  so  furiously  in  the  darkness 
of  the  winter's  night  to  Versailles  that  the  chaise  was 
upset  by  the  road-side  and  his  arm  dislocated  for  his 
pains. 

Such  thrilling  news  as  the  surrender  of  the  great 
English  army  was,  indeed,  sufficient  to  turn  the  head 
of  the  French  enthusiast  and  enough  to  raise  the  calm 
philosophy  of  Franklin  to  a  mood  of  confidence  and 
courage;  and  this  was  the  mood  in  which  he  received 
the  man  who  was  destined  to  be  his  chief  support  in 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  241 

the  war  as  waged  by  the  Americans  in  Europe.  Once 
before,  in  the  course  of  his  life  of  extraordinary  alter- 
nations of  fortune,  Paul  Jones  had  been  brought  into 
contact  with  a  group  of  individuals  representing  a 
strategic  centre  of  important  influence  and  a  moulding 
school  of  manners.  It  has  been  seen  how  his  early  and 
providential  experience  in  North  Carolina,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  aristocratic  and  powerful  Willie  Jones, 
had  illuminated  and  given  opportunity  to  his  ambition. 
But  this  preparation  was  only  introductory  to  the 
role  he  was  now  about  to  play  in  Europe. 

The  house  at  Passy  which  was  the  residence  of  the 
American  commissioners  during  the  period  of  the  Rev- 
olution was  lent  to  them  by  a  generous  sympathizer 
with  our  cause,  M.  Leray  de  Chaumont,  who  held  impor- 
tant naval  appointments  from  the  French  Government, 
with  which  he  was  in  confidential  relations.  The  gift 
of  this  spacious  official  residence  was  reluctantly  ac- 
cepted by  Franklin  and  openly  objected  to  by  Adams, 
but  it  was  probably  countenanced  if  not  instigated 
by  the  French  court,  which  desired  this  convenient 
retreat  for  the  representatives  of  the  nation  it  se- 
cretly wished  to  protect.  It  served,  in  fact,  as  a 
meeting-place  for  the  sympathizers  as  well  as  the 
representatives  of  the  new  republic.  It  became  the 
principal  rendezvous  of  politicians,  gazetteers,  soldiers 
of  fortune,  and  soldiers  of  the  highest  rank  and  im- 
portance. The  house  occupied  by  the  commissioners 
was  only  a  dependance  of  the  property  owned  by  M. 
de  Chaumont,  which  had  then  belonged  to  him  but 
a  few  months,  having  been  originally  the  residence  of 


242  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  Duchesse  de  Valentinois,  and  still  called  the  Hotel 
Valentinois.  There  were  two  houses  on  the  estate, 
which  was  considerable,  one  designated  "le  grand 
hotel"  and  the  other  "le  petit  hotel,"  the  larger 
being  occupied  by  M.  de  Chaumont  and  his  family  and 
the  other  by  the  commissioners.  The  relations  of  the  two 
households,  separated  as  they  were  only  by  a  garden, 
became  naturally  intimate,  and  the  proximity  of  Frank- 
lin, who  became  the  idol  of  the  French  court  and  the 
admiration  of  the  entire  nation,  was  a  source  of  infinite 
pride  and  pleasure  to  his  host,  himself  somewhat  of  a 
philosopher  and  anxious  to  please  the  court  and  to  be 
serviceable  to  its  favorite.  At  the  time  when  Jones 
first  visited  Passy,  where  he  was  destined  to  be  later 
a  frequent  and  honored  guest,  Franklin  had  been  about 
a  year  in  residence,  and  the  unfortunate  Silas  Deane, 
his  co-commissioner,  already  involved  in  difficulties, 
was  soon  to  return  to  America,  recalled  by  a  resolu- 
tion passed  on  the  8th  of  December,  1777,  to  give 
an  account  of  his  financial  transactions  with  govern- 
ment funds,  before  the  bar  of  Congress.  This  was 
brought  about  by  the  unjust  suspicions  of  the  third 
commissioner,  Arthur  Lee,  the  marplot  of  the  Revo- 
lution, whose  stormy  disposition  and  jealous  distrust 
caused  more  trouble  to  his  colleagues  than  any  other 
of  the  many  difficulties  which  they  were  forced  to 
meet.  The  bitter  enemy  of  Franklin,  the  cause  of  the 
ruin  of  Deane  and  of  Beaumarchais,  the  dupe  of  English 
spies,  this  misguided  patriot,  for  such  his  sincere  love 
of  America  declared  him  to  be,  was  also  the  cause  of 
infinite  distress  to  Jones,  and  proved  himself  in  the 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  243 

latter's  affairs  an  obstructionist  and  an  enemy  of  the 
most  dangerous  kind. 

Over  this  nest  of  dissension,  hid  away  in  the  peace- 
ful retreat  of  Passy,  the  calm  philosophy  of  the  all- 
knowing,  the  wellnigh  all-powerful  Franklin  fortu- 
nately held  sway,  and  to  the  refuge  of  his  friendship,  his 
unerring  and  kindly  protection,  Paul  Jones  was  ever 
welcome  to  return  for  assistance  and  advice.  His  re- 
lation with  the  best  and  greatest  Americans,  most  fort- 
unately maintained  in  the  case  of  Hewes  and  Morris, 
was  again  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Franklin.  Paul 
Jones  found  in  him  from  the  first  his  principal  ally 
and  supporter,  and  their  minds,  practical,  efficient,  and 
far-seeing,  entered  at  once  into  active  alliance,  Franklin 
receiving  Jones's  suggestions  and  on  his  own  initiative 
planning  large  schemes  for  his  employment  in  connec- 
tion with  the  French  allies.  He  recognized  at  once  the 
superb  fighting  instrument  which  Jones  represented, 
and  was  fully  as  eager  as  the  latter's  admirers  of  the 
marine  committee  to  see  his  splendid  powers  in  action. 
The  tenor  of  their  correspondence,  which  was  fully 
preserved  by  them  both,  shows  a  reverence  on  Jones's 
part  and  a  paternal  affection  on  the  part  of  the  sage, 
fond,  admiring,  and  yet  reserved,  as  if  he  feared  too 
greatly  to  praise  a  favorite  son.  Like  a  father,  Franklin 
corrected  the  young  man,  warning  him  of  dangers  and 
sharply  reproving  his  faults  of  temper.  Fortunate,  in- 
deed, for  the  cause  of  America  as  for  Paul  Jones  that 
he  found  such  protection  and  advice  at  the  outset  of 
his  European  career. 

Although  received  with  flattering  cordiality  by  the 


244  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

commissioners,  the  news  which  awaited  Jones  upon  his 
arrival  was  far  from  exhilarating,  as  far  as  the  princi- 
pal object  of  his  mission  was  concerned,  for  the  rumor 
of  the  sale  of  the  Indien,  and  the  loss  of  his  promised 
command,  was  fully  confirmed.  The  British  ambas- 
sador, Elliot,  at  The  Hague,  had  discovered  the  secret 
of  the  ownership  and  destination  of  the  vessel,  then  on 
the  stocks  at  Amsterdam,  from  a  chance  sight  of  some 
papers  lying  on  the  desk  of  M.  Dumas,  secretly  em- 
ployed as  American  agent  at  the  Dutch  capital.  To 
prevent  the  confiscation  of  the  vessel  in  a  neutral  port 
it  was  deemed  imperative  immediately  to  transfer  it 
to  the  French  Government.  Jones  had  no  intention 
of  giving  up  his  efforts  to  get  the  command  of  the  ship, 
but  he  realized  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  for 
the  moment,  so  he  wasted  no  time  in  remonstrances, 
and  returned  after  a  few  days  to  Nantes  to  resume  his 
command  of  the  Ranger.  His  ensuing  correspondence 
shows  that  the  relations  he  had  so  quickly  formed  at 
Passy  included  a  warm  and  sympathetic  friendship 
with  at  least  two  of  the  commissioners  and  with  Doctor 
Bancroft,  an  Englishman  officially  employed  by  the 
latter,  and  eminent  for  his  scientific  discoveries.  The 
letters  of  Silas  Deane  written  to  Jones  at  this  period 
abound  in  expressions  of  admiration  and  a  desire  to 
further  his  designs — letters  which  indicate  not  only 
the  ardent  nature  of  this  unfortunate  public  servant, 
but  the  engaging  personality  of  his  correspondent. 
Deane  had  been  from  the  first  an  active  and  influ- 
ential member  of  the  Continental  Congress  and  also 
a  member  of  the  first  marine  committee.    He  was  ap- 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  245 

pointed  business  agent  and  American  commissioner 
at  Paris  in  June,  1776,  and  filled  that  arduous  position 
alone  from  July  until  December  of  that  year,  when 
Franklin  arrived  to  be  associated  with  him.  Although 
he  had  embarrassed  the  government  by  his  too  easy 
belief  in  the  representations  of  the  French  officers  who 
desired  to  enter  the  American  army,  he  had  been 
eminently  successful  in  the  conduct  of  the  very  com- 
plicated matter  of  procuring  supplies  through  Beau- 
marchais,  which  were  absolutely  essential  to  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  war.  He  is  described  as  being  a  man 
of  distinguished  manners  and  appearance,  used  to  the 
world,  and,  through  his  warm  personal  relations  with 
Beaumarchais,  favorably  known  to  the  powerful  French 
minister  of  foreign  affairs,  the  Count  de  Vergennes.  Ar- 
thur Lee,  as  a  member  of  the  influential  and  patriotic 
Lee  family,  of  Virginia,  was  closely  related  to  Washing- 
ton and  was  also  in  strong  sympathy  with  Adams  and 
the  New  England  party  in  Congress.  He  resented 
a  subordinate  position,  or  even  the  divided  authority 
which  was  forced  upon  him  by  the  presence  of  hi3  col- 
leagues in  France,  and  refused  to  subscribe  either  to 
the  diplomacy  of  Franklin  or  the  conduct  of  the  busi- 
ness affairs  by  Deane.  He  failed,  although  with  a  very 
small  majority,  in  Congress,  in  his  attempt  to  oust 
Franklin  from  his  position,  but  was  only  too  successful 
in  his  attacks  upon  Deane.  No  sooner  had  he  arrived 
in  Paris  than  he  sent  the  most  sweeping  and,  as  it 
was  proved,  unfounded  accusations  to  Congress  as  to 
Deane's  dishonesty,  with  the  result  that  Deane's  bills 
were  dishonored  by  his  government  and  he  was  left 


246  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

penniless  in  Europe.  In  this  emergency,  through  the 
earnest  persuasions  of  Beaumarchais,  Vergennes  sup- 
plied Deane's  immediate  necessities  from  the  French 
exchequer  and  sent  him  home  to  his  trial  in  America 
with  honors  from  the  King.  In  spite  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  Franklin,  who  clearly  testified  to  his  in- 
tegrity, Lee's  suspicions  prevailed  with  Congress,  and 
when  Deane  finally  appeared  in  Philadelphia  it  was 
only  to  be  sent  away  shorn  of  the  rewards  he  had 
merited  for  his  services  to  America  and  of  every  dol- 
lar he  possessed.  Not  the  least  of  the  political  crimes 
which  lie  at  the  door  of  Arthur  Lee  was  the  unde- 
served persecution  which  drove  this  zealous  patriot 
to  penury  and  to  the  despair  from  which  his  subse- 
quent treachery  to  his  country  originated. 

The  first  letter  in  regard  to  Jones,  which  emanates 
from  Passy  after  his  visit,  is  addressed  to  Jonathan 
Williams,  and  directs  him  to  advance  Jones  the  sum 
of  five  hundred  "Louidores,"  for  which  his  draft  upon 
the  commissioners  will  be  paid.  This  letter,  although 
signed  by  the  three  commissioners,  is  in  the  handwriting 
of  Arthur  Lee,  and  represents  the  only  evidence  of 
confidence  in  Jones  for  which  he  was  responsible. 

Another  short  official  document  belonging  to  this 
period  gives  a  record  of  the  sale  of  the  Ranger's  prizes, 
negotiated  by  Williams,  on  the  reverse  side  of  which 
is  a  note  in  Jones's  handwriting,  stating  that  it  is  the 
only  account  of  sales  ever  received  from  any  agent. 
This  evidence  of  Williams's  business  integrity  is  less 
remarkable  than  the  inference  it  contains  in  regard 
to  the  other  prize-agents  employed  in  the  sale  of  the 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  247 

many  prizes  Jones  captured,  not  only  in  Europe,  but 
in  American  waters,  during  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Both  Jones  and  Williams  were  soon  to  be  sharers  in 
Lee's  universal  suspicion,  and  the  statement  of  Jones 
is  therefore  significant. 

Jones  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  cruise  he  was 
planning  to  make  in  the  Ranger,  and,  to  his  great  satis- 
faction, he  received  on  the  15th  day  of  January  a  letter 
from  the  commissioners  promising  the  rewards  which 
he  had  already  requested  for  his  officers  and  crew, 
in  case  the  expedition  should  prove  successful.  On 
January  16  his  full  instructions  were  sent  to  him. 

Paeis,  January  lQth,  1778. 
Capt.  Jones, 
Sir. 
As  it  is  not  in  our  Power  to  procure  you  such  a 
Ship  as  you  expected,  we  advise  you  after  equipping 
the  Ranger  in  the  best  manner,  for  the  Cruise  you  pro- 
pose, that  you  proceed  with  her  in  the  manner  you  shall 
judge  best,  for  distressing  the  Enemies  of  the  United 
States,  by  Sea,  or  otherwise,  consistent  with  the  Laws 
of  War,  and  the  Terms  of  your  Commission.  If  you 
take  Prizes  on  the  Coast  of  France  or  Spain,  send  them 
into  Bilboa  or  Corogne,  unless  you  should  apprehend 
the  Danger  too  great;  in  which  Case,  we  advise  you 
to  send  them  either  into  L'Orient,  or  Bordeaux,  di- 
recting the  Officers  who  may  have  them  in  charge  to 
apply  at  L'Orient  to  Mr.  Moylan  or  Mr.  Gourlade,  and 
at  Bordeaux  to  Messrs.  S.  &  J.  T.  Delaps,  and  inform 
us  immediately  of  their  arrival,  and  Situation;  if  you 
send  to  Spain,  or  should  put  into  the  Ports  of  that 
Kingdom  apply  at  Bilboa  to  Messrs.  Gadroque,  et  fits, 
at  Corogne  to  Messrs.  Loganiere  &  Co.    if  you  make 


248  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

an  attempt  on  the  Coasts  of  Great  Britain,  we  advise 
you  not  to  return  immediately  into  the  Ports  of  France, 
unless  forced  by  the  stress  of  weather,  or  the  pursuit 
of  the  Enemy,  and  in  such  Case,  you  can  make  the 
proper  Representation  to  the  Officers  of  the  Port  and 
acquaint  us  with  your  Situation;  We  rely  on  your 
Ability,  as  well  as  your  Zeal,  to  serve  the  United  States, 
and  therefore  do  not  give  particular  instructions  as 
to  your  Operations.  We  must  caution  you  against 
giving  any  cause  for  complaint,  to  the  Subjects  of 
France,  or  Spain,  or  of  other  Neutral  Powers,  and 
recommend  it  to  you  to  show  them  every  proper  mark 
of  Respect  and  real  Civility  which  may  be  in  your 
Power.  You  will  communicate  to  your  Officers  and 
Seamen  the  encouragement  we  give  them,  and  explain 
to  them  that  tho'  it  was  not  in  our  Power  to  be  par- 
ticular as  to  the  Rewards  they  should  be  entitled  to, 
yet  they  may  safely  Rely  on  the  Justice  of  the  Con- 
gress. 

Before  you  sail  it  will  be  proper  to  settle  with  Mr. 
Williams  the  Account  of  your  Disbursements  and  send 
the  Account  up  to  us. 

We  most  heartily  wish  you  Success  and  are  with 
much  Esteem, 

Sir  Your  most  obed.  &  very  humble  Servants 

B.  Franklin 
Silas  Deane. 

These  instructions,  unlimited  as  to  plan  and  desti- 
nation, were  such  as  were  calculated  to  please  Jones 
best,  but  they  were  signed  by  only  two  of  the  com- 
missioners, for  Arthur  Lee,  already  beginning  to 
make  trouble  for  Jones,  had  written  on  the  back 
that  he  doubted  the  integrity  of  the  prize-agent  at 
L'Orient  recommended  by  his  confreres,  and  held  that 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  249 

American  agents  appointed  directly  by  Congress  should 
be  trusted  with  the  business. 

This  example  of  the  obstructionist  character  of  Lee's 
actions,  based  on  a  pretended  obedience  to  the  letter  of 
the  varying  laws  of  the  far-distant  Congress,  is  highly 
characteristic  of  his  subsequent  course,  and  caused  in 
this,  as  in  every  other  instance,  incalculable  difficulty 
to  those  who,  with  greater  wisdom,  were  endeavoring 
to  follow,  in  the  rapidly  changing  course  of  events, 
the  spirit  rather  than  the  letter  of  their  government's 
instructions. 

A  new  and  accelerated  movement  was  now  about 
to  take  place  in  European  affairs  owing  to  the  news  of 
Burgoyne's  surrender,  which  not  only  raised  the  hopes 
of  the  commissioners  but  most  importantly  altered 
the  hesitating  attitude  of  the  French  court  in  regard 
to  the  American  cause,  the  almost  immediate  result 
being  the  resolution  to  adopt  a  commercial  treaty  of 
alliance  between  France  and  the  United  States.  This 
all-important  step  was  not  determined  upon  without 
long  and  careful  deliberation  by  the  French  ministers. 
As  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Choiseul,  the  wisdom  of  a 
sympathetic  attitude  toward  the  colonies  was  recom- 
mended to  the  French  court.  Individual  liberty  was 
promulgated  by  Voltaire,  social  liberty  by  Rousseau. 
Liberty  was  the  favorite  theme  of  the  Encyclopedists; 
it  became  the  passion  of  the  young  nobles  of  the  court, 
which  was  already  unconsciously  republican,  with  an 
ironical  tragedy,  working  soon  to  its  destruction.  A 
veritable  rage  for  the  new  ideas  spread  rapidly  and 
dangerously  among  the  people;   the  press  was  full  of 


250  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

"anecdotes  Am6ricaines,"  school-children  were  fed  on 
Poor  Richard's  maxims,  and  Franklin  himself  had  a 
translation  made  of  the  States'  constitutions,  which 
circulated  freely  with  amazing  results.  The  Comte 
de  Vergennes  attempted  to  control  the  popular  ex- 
citement by  forbidding  the  crowds  in  the  cafes  to 
discuss  the  affairs  of  the  American  revolutionists,  but 
the  voice  of  the  people  already  sounded  loud  in  the 
corridors  of  Versailles,  and  the  monarchical  minister 
and  the  King  himself  were  forced  to  yield  to  the 
pressure.  Not  without  long  and  careful  balancing 
of  arguments  and  possibilities  was  the  treaty  decided 
upon.  The  memorials  on  the  subject  of  the  American 
alliance  from  the  pens  of  Turgot,  who  opposed  it, 
and  of  the  astute  Vergennes,  who  finally  favored  it, 
perpetuate  the  profound  and  careful  reflections  these 
great  French  statesmen  had  perfected.  Vergennes, 
who  desired,  above  all  things,  the  preservation  of  the 
monarchy  and  who  was  devotedly  attached  to  Louis 
XVI,  was  in  no  wise  inclined  to  yield  to  the  popular 
enthusiasm,  but  he  did  intend  to  weaken  the  power 
of  Great  Britain  by  any  means  in  his  command.  He 
had  large  schemes  for  restoring  the  ancient  power  of 
France  by  a  net-work  of  treaties  with  European  pow- 
ers, and  had  long  been  contemplating  a  treaty  of  com- 
mercial alliance  with  the  new  nation,  to  go  into  force 
as  soon  as  it  seemed  probable  that  her  independence 
was  likely  to  become  an  established  fact.  For  this 
reason  he  had  furthered  the  semi-mercantile  but  wholly 
enthusiastic  schemes  of  Beaumarchais  for  the  assist- 
ance of  the  colonists.    With  infinite  patience  and  the 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  251 

exercise  of  his  accomplished  diplomacy,  he  had  man- 
aged to  lead  the  reluctant  King  of  Spain,  with  the  aid 
of  the  Marquis  de  Grimaldi,  who  favored  the  idea  of 
humiliating  England,  to  the  very  point  of  declaring 
war  against  their  common  enemy.  Working  upon  the 
Spanish  King's  resentment  at  the  secret  encourage- 
ment furnished  to  Portugal  by  the  British  cabinet,  in 
their  hostile  threats  against  his  country's  supremacy  in 
the  Spanish  Peninsula,  he  represented  that  the  Span- 
ish as  well  as  the  French  possessions  in  the  New  World 
were  in  imminent  danger  of  being  seized  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  that  war  was  a  necessity  from  which  there 
was  no  escape.  The  Spanish  cabinet  had  so  far  yielded 
to  Vergennes's  persuasion  that  it  had  joined  with  the 
French  ministry  in  the  first  loan  of  two  million  livres, 
which  was  accorded  to  the  American  colonies  through 
the  negotiations  of  Beaumarchais.  The  formal  con- 
sent to  this  proposal  was  sent  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1776.1 

When  the  news  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence reached  France,  Vergennes  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  Revolution  was  as  serious  as  he  had 
hoped  and  likely  to  be  fought  out  to  the  bitter  end. 
He  therefore,  with  the  consent  of  Louis  XVI  and  his 
council,  formally  proposed  to  the  Spanish  cabinet  that 
war  should  be  declared  by  their  respective  sovereigns 
against  England.  The  consent  of  Spain,  on  condi- 
tion that  she  should  be  permitted  immediately  to  in- 
vade Portugal,  had  just  been  received,  when  the  news 

l"Espagne,"  t.  580,  no.  193,  vol.  I,  485:  "  Participation  de  la  France 
dans  l'Etablissement  dee  Etata  Unis,"  Doniol. 


252  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  the  defeat  of  the  colonists  at  Long  Island  arrived. 
The  face  of  affairs  was  instantly  changed,  and  Ver- 
gennes  himself,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  Carlos 
III,  now  retreated  from  his  militant  attitude  and  re- 
turned to  the  position  of  caution  and  watchful  con- 
servatism in  regard  to  the  adoption  of  treaties  with 
the  American  colonists,  or  to  any  proclamation  of  hos- 
tilities against  England.  He  was  now  willing  only  to 
aid  the  cause  of  the  insurgents  in  secret,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  up  their  resistance  to  the  oppression 
of  the  mother  country  as  long  as  possible.  This  was 
the  posture  of  affairs  in  France  from  October,  1776, 
when  the  news  of  the  American  reverses  arrived,  un- 
til December,  1777,  when  the  announcement  of  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender  revived  his  belief  in  the  ultimate 
independence  of  America  and  his  never-sleeping  de- 
sire to  attack  the  ancient  enemy  of  his  country  at  the 
moment  of  her  distress.  Louis  XVI,  who  had  at  first 
been  a  warm  sympathizer  and  friend  of  the  respect- 
able George  III,  and  had  ineffectually  attempted  to 
prevent  Lafayette  from  sailing  for  America,  was  now 
convinced  by  his  minister's  arguments,  and  despatched, 
on  the  8th  of  January,  a  letter  to  his  uncle  of  Spain, 
in  which  he  announced  his  determination  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  the  revolted  English  colonies.  "Amer- 
ica," he  wrote,  "since  the  destruction  of  Burgoyne's 
forces  is  triumphant,  and  England  depressed  although 
hoping  if  subjugation  be  impossible  to  establish  an 
efficient  alliance  with  the  Colonies.  In  this  view  I 
have  considered  it  just  and  necessary  to  treat  with 
them  to  prevent  their  union  with  the  parent  state." 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  253 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  family  compact  be- 
tween the  two  Bourbon  monarchs,  France  could  not 
make  treaties  or  declare  war  without  the  consent  of 
Spain.  But  Carlos  III  was  now  under  the  control  of 
a  conservative  minister,  and  the  relations  between  his 
court  and  that  of  Portugal  were  greatly  improved. 
He  therefore  refused  to  join  in  the  declaration  of  an 
alliance  which  would  mean  war  with  England,  and  re- 
fused to  act  with  his  nephew.  Proceeding  to  treat  with 
the  American  commissioners  before  the  reply  from  the 
Spanish  court  could  arrive,  Vergennes  finally  dispensed 
entirely  with  the  consent  of  Carlos  III,  announcing  the 
final  adoption  of  a  treaty  of  commerce  and  alliance 
with  the  American  colonies,  after  Spain's  formal  refusal 
had  been  received.  The  public  announcement  of  the 
conclusion  of  the  negotiations  with  the  American  com- 
missioners was  made  on  February  6,  1778. 

Although  hatred  of  England  rather  than  love  of 
America  was  plainly  the  motive  which  actuated  both 
the  King  and  his  minister  in  thus  publicly  espousing 
the  cause  of  the  insurgents,  Vergennes's  consistent  in- 
tention had  been  to  aid  them,  and  in  this  he  was 
supported  by  the  overwhelming  and  sincere  sympathy 
of  the  French  people.  In  the  management  of  the  ne- 
gotiations with  the  French  cabinet,  Franklin  exhib- 
ited the  tact  and  wisdom  which  constituted  him  the 
greatest,  as  he  was  the  first,  of  American  diploma- 
tists. His  personal  relation  to  Vergennes,  who  was  the 
sole  agent  of  the  French  Government  in  its  foreign 
affairs,  as  Franklin  was  in  reality  the  sole  responsible 
representative  of  America,  was  characterized  by  as 


254  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

great  a  degree  of  frankness  as  the  conditions  permit- 
ted, and  by  a  courtesy  as  invariable  as  it  was  respect- 
ful. It  was  the  natural  result  of  high  intelligence, 
deliberate  reflection,  and  mutual  confidence  in  each 
other's  integrity.  Arthur  Lee  was  suspected  by  Ver- 
gennes,  and  John  Adams's  truculent  independence 
was  equally  repugnant  to  the  suave  but  exceedingly 
powerful  French  minister,  who  finally  refused  to  treat 
with  him,  or  with  any  other  of  the  many  colonial  agents 
who  were  unwisely  sent  with  roving  commissions  to 
the  various  European  courts. 

When  this  first  French  treaty  was  signed,  Arthur 
Lee  and  Deane,  still  vested  with  the  powers  of  com- 
missioners, were  present  at  all  the  interviews  which 
led  to  its  adoption,  but  Franklin  was  the  only  one 
who  was  seriously  considered  by  the  French  court, 
and,  as  events  compelled,  was  eventually  relieved  by 
Congress  of  the  embarrassment  of  divided  authority. 
Allied  as  he  was  thus  closely  with  Vergennes  and 
the  King,  through  their  unfaltering  confidence  in  his 
ability,  Franklin  began  to  plan  expeditions  in  which 
the  American  forces  and  those  of  the  allies  could  be 
used  in  conjunction.  Following  out  this  idea,  he  at- 
tempted on  various  occasions  to  bring  Jones  into  asso- 
ciation with  the  distinguished  French  volunteers  who 
had  offered  their  services  to  the  cause  of  the  colonies. 
A  letter  from  Silas  Deane,  written  to  Jones  the  day 
after  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  makes  reference  to  a 
plan  proposed,  after  Jones's  visit  to  Paris,  to  bring 
him  into  personal  communication  with  Lafayette. 
Jones  asked,  and  received  permission,  to  join  the  con- 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  255 

voy  of  American  vessels  awaited  by  La  Motte  Picquet 
in  Quiberon  Bay  and  destined  to  accompany  Lafayette 
as  far  as  Cape  Finisterre  on  his  return  voyage  across 
the  ocean.  This  plan  was  subsequently  altered  but 
its  intent  is  plain. 

A  few  days  after  Jones's  return  to  Nantes,  while  he 
was  still  waiting  for  the  completion  of  the  alterations 
of  the  Ranger ,  he  received  news  by  a  Nantucket  priva- 
teer in  regard  to  the  situation  of  the  British  forces  in 
America  of  so  encouraging  a  character  as  to  set  his 
inventive  mind  immediately  to  work.  He  instantly 
conceived  a  bold  plan  for  an  immediate  invasion  of 
America  by  a  fleet  to  be  assembled  from  the  forces  of 
the  allies,  which,  as  he  calculated,  would  bring  the 
whole  contest  to  a  speedy  conclusion.  For  some  reason, 
possibly  because  of  the  hasty  manner  in  which  it  was 
prepared  and  sent  off  hot-foot  to  the  commissioners  on 
the  very  day  Jones  received  the  news  from  America, 
he  preserved  no  copy  of  this  important  paper.  There 
existed  no  trace  of  it  in  the  large  collection  of  his  papers 
left  to  his  family  at  his  death,  or  of  those  left  by 
Jones  in  America,  which  formed  the  basis  of  Sher- 
burne's biography,  and  were  finally  acquired  by  Con- 
gress in  the  year  1867.  Separately  preserved,  how- 
ever, for  upward  of  a  century  among  the  Continental 
Congress  papers  in  the  archives  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, this  very  important  document  has  finally  come 
to  light.  It  may  have  found  its  way  thither  through 
its  inclusion  in  the  Franklin  papers,  part  of  which 
came  into  the  possession  of  Congress,  or  Jones  himself 
may  have  procured  a  copy  from  Franklin  for  presenta- 


256  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

tion  to  the  government  at  the  time  of  his  long  and  tri- 
umphant examination  by  Congress  in  the  year  1781. 

The  importance  of  this  paper  is  very  great  in  any 
consideration  of  the  character  and  career  of  Paul 
Jones,  not  only  because  it  clears  him  from  the  suspi- 
cion of  having  wrongfully  laid  claim  to  the  authorship 
of  the  plan  of  invasion,  but  because  it  establishes  his 
ability  to  conceive  a  great  scheme  of  naval  operations 
which,  to  the  incalculable  loss  to  America,  he  was 
never  given  the  opportunity  of  conducting.  In  his 
journal,  written  in  the  year  1787  for  Louis  XVI,  Jones 
gives  in  elaborate  detail  the  completed  plan  of  the 
proposed  expedition,  and  states  that  he  sent  it  to  Silas 
Deane,  who  claimed  it  as  his  own  and  laid  it  before 
the  French  court.  Silas  Deane  was  rewarded  for  this 
service  by  the  gift  of  a  miniature  of  Louis  XVI.  This 
letter,  then,  as  it  is  here  appended,  containing  the  brief 
but  perfectly  clear  outline  of  the  plan,  must  have  been 
temporarily  sequestered  by  Deane, who  seized  the  credit 
himself.  It  is  addressed  plainly  to  the  three  commis- 
sioners: 

Ranger,  Paimboeuf,  10th  Feby.  1778. 
Gentlemen  : — 

I  had  the  honor  of  writing  to  you  from  Nantes  the 
27th  Ulto. — the  affair  of  Quiberon,  which  I  did  not  then 
know  of,  is  now  in  every  Brokers  Mouth. — Strange! 
that  nothing  can  remain  secret? — Should  I  then  find 
that  force  likely  to  depart  within  a  few  days  I  will  avail 
myself  of  its  protection — especially  as  it  is  the  general 
opinion  that  I  can  be  of  service  to  the  supply  ships — 
however,  unless  something  is  determined  very  soon  I 
shall  depart  alone. 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  257 

I  heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  pleasing  News 
contained  in  the  within  paper  which  I  believe  may  be 
entirely  depended  upon  as  the  informant  appears  to 
me  to  be  very  intelligent  and  well  affected  to  America. 

2.  Were  any  Continental  marine  power  in  Europe 
disposed  to  avail  of  the  present  situation  of  affairs  in 
America  and  willing  to  deserve  our  Friendship,  a  sin- 
gle Blow  well  directed  would  now  do  the  needful. — 
Ten  or  Twelve  sail  of  the  line  with  Frigates  well 
equipped  and  provided  would  give  a  good  account 
of  the  Fleet  under  Lord  Howe — for  as  that  force  would 
be  Superior  to  any  of  Howe's  divisions — the  strongest 
being  once  taken — the  Victorious  Squadron  might  sail 
in  quest  of  the  next  in  strength  and  reach  it  before  ad- 
vice.— I  know  the  genius  of  the  English  seamen  (having 
lived  long  on  salt  provision)  would  induce  them  to 
enter  on  the  Strongest  side  where  they  would  find 
better  food — the  American  Seamen  would  enter,  of 
course,  and  in  all  probability  many  of  the  officers 
would  Pull  off  the  Mask  and  declare  in  favor  of  Heaven 
and  America. — Small  squadrons  might  then  be  formed, 
to  secure  the  coast  and  cut  off  the  Enemies  supplies 
while  our  army  Settled  the  Account  current. — 

3.  However  extravagant  this  calculation  may  appear 
on  a  slight  view — it  will  not  be  found  so  in  reality. — 

Had  Lord  Howe  or  any  commander  in  the  Ene- 
mies Fleet  an  Idea  or  expectation  of  such  a  Visit — it 
is  certain  that  the  attempt  would  be  folly  and  madness 
— but  as  our  Enemies  Ride  in  perfect  security — that 
security  would  prove  their  Ruin  and  insure  our  Suc- 
cess.   Whoever  can  surprise  well  must  Conquer. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  sentiments  of  esteem 
and  great  respect,  etc. 

J.  P.  Jones. 
The  Honble.  B.  Franklin,  Silas  Deane  and  A.  Lee,  Esqrs. 
American  Commissioners  &ca.  Paris. 


258  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  the  following  extract  taken  from  Jones's  journal 
he  tells  how  he  was  deprived  of  the  credit  of  this  con- 
ception : 

As  I  had  received  from  America  on  the  10th  of 
February,  information  in  regard  to  the  forces  and  the 
location  of  the  frigates  and  men-of-war  under  Lord 
Howe,  I  wrote  on  the  same  day  to  Deane,  one  of  the 
French  Ministers  in  Paris,  to  communicate  to  him 
the  plans  and  details  of  an  expedition  to  be  conducted 
in  America  with  only  one  squadron  and  ten  ships  of 
the  line  with  some  frigates  and  troops,  with  the  ob- 
ject of  entirely  destroying  the  forces  of  England  in 
the  United  States  before  they  had  time  to  send  to 
England  for  reinforcements.  France  had  then  afloat 
thirty  ships  of  the  line,  as  well  as  a  number  of  frigates, 
fully  equipped  and  ready  for  service.  There  never 
had  been,  and  there  was  no  prospect  of  there  being 
again,  so  wonderful  an  opportunity  of  striking  an 
overwhelming  blow  at  the  English  Navy.  If  the  plan 
of  the  expedition  had  been  adopted  without  delay, 
and  a  squadron  despatched  from  Brest,  Great  Britain 
would  have  had  no  knowledge  of  this  destructive  proj- 
ect until  after  it  had  been  carried  out  in  America. 
Lord  Howe  would  have  been  surprised  and  captured 
in  the  Delaware;  his  squadron  would  have  imme- 
diately been  armed  from  American  forces,  and  sep- 
arating in  small  detachments  to  left  and  right,  the 
naval  forces  of  England  would  have  been  completely 
destroyed  before  the  arrival  of  Admiral  Byron.  The 
resulting  enthusiasm  of  the  Americans  would  have  so 
supported  General  Washington  that  he  would  have 
taken  New  York,  and  captured  or  destroyed  all  the 
English  regiments  in  the  United  States. 

At  the  same  time,  the  French  squadron,  raising  the 
English  flag  off  the  Harbour  of  New  York,  would  have 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  259 

lured  into  the  trap  and  taken  Admiral  Byron,  and  fol- 
lowing that,  all  of  his  squadron,  whose  vessels,  sepa- 
rated by  storm  during  the  passage,  arrived  one  after 
the  other  in  New  York.  Thus,  in  a  single  campaign, 
with  little  expense,  France  would  have  had  an  admi- 
rable opportunity  of  establishing  the  Independence  of 
America,  and  with  a  single  blow  to  bring  Great  Britain 
to  her  feet,  thereafter  to  abandon  her  boast  of  being 
"Mistress  of  the  seas."  What  will  be  the  opinion  of 
posterity  regarding  France's  long  neglect  of  this  unique 
opportunity?  Will  it  not  judge  that  this  fault  was 
only  increased  by  the  adoption  of  the  project  three 
months  later,  when  the  time  had  passed,  by  sending 
the  squadron  from  Toulon  instead  of  from  Brest,  and 
causing  a  delay  of  at  least  another  month?  It  is  use- 
less to  add  to  the  narrative  of  these  details  the  unhappy 
effects  which  were  caused  by  this  delay,  the  general 
result  of  which  was  a  long,  bloody  and  costly  war  in 
which  France,  Holland,  Spain  and  the  East  Indies  were 
afterwards  embroiled. 

When  Deane  presented  to  the  Court  of  France  the 
plan  of  the  expedition  which  I  had  conceived,  he  had 
the  bad  faith  to  claim  the  honor  of  its  invention  for 
himself,  and  received  in  consequence  the  portrait  of 
His  Majesty  on  a  box  ornamented  with  diamonds. 

A  comparison  of  these  two  documents  will  prove, 
without  question,  the  identity  of  the  ideas  and  author- 
ship, and  justify  the  authoritative  and  deliberate  judg- 
ment of  Captain  Mahan,  expressed  in  the  following 
conclusion: 

The  comprehensive  professional  intelligence,  com- 
bined with  daring  in  enterprise,  and  endurance  in 
action,  shown  by  Jones,  give  the  best  antecedent  to- 
kens of  the  great  general  officer  that  might  have  been. 


260  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Although  rewarded  by  the  gift  of  the  portrait  of  the 
King,  Silas  Deane,  on  the  eve  of  his  recall,  did  not 
bring  about  the  immediate  adoption  of  the  plan  of  in- 
vasion which  Jones  had  so  hastily  and  urgently  recom- 
mended. But  when  Count  d'Orvilliers,  then  admiral 
of  the  French  fleet  assembled  at  Brest,  heard  of  the 
plan  from  Jones  himself  a  few  weeks  later,  the  project 
was  again  put  in  motion.  D'Orvilliers,  then  and  always 
in  perfect  accord  with  Jones,  approved  the  plan  and 
enclosed  a  copy  of  it  to  M.  de  Sartine,  the  minister  of 
marine,  with  a  letter  recommending  its  immediate 
adoption.  With  the  added  authority  of  this  advice  the 
plan  was  adopted  and  eventually  put  into  operation. 
How  the  expedition,  under  Count  d'Estaing,  failed  of 
success  is  a  matter  of  history,  but  it  is  highly  probable, 
if  the  French  fleet  had  started  at  the  time  when 
Jones  proposed  it  and  had  followed  out  his  plan, 
the  war  would  have  then  and  there  been  brought  to 
an  end.  On  March  31,  in  a  letter  to  the  French  min- 
ister of  marine,  Jones  again  makes  mention  of  this 
plan,  and  in  a  still  subsequent  letter  to  him  insists 
that  "had  Count  D'Estaing  arrived  in  the  Delaware 
a  few  days  sooner  he  might  have  made  a  glorious  and 
easy  conquest." 

There  is  a  forgotten  piece  of  testimony  in  regard  to 
this  ill-fated  expedition  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from 
Jones,  hidden  away,  in  the  finest  of  print,  in  the  ap- 
pendix of  Miss  Taylor's  rare  compilation  of  her  uncle's 
papers  of  the  year  1830.  It  is  a  curious  and  interesting 
fragment.  The  letter  is  without  date  and  lacks  an  ad- 
dress, but,  according  to  the  authority  of  the  editor,  it 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  261 

is  an  authentic  letter  in  Jones's  own  handwriting  and 
bears  his  signature.  It  is  well  known  that,  owing  to 
the  ill-advised  policy  of  the  French  Government,  Count 
d'Estaing's  fleet  was  ordered  to  start  from  Toulon 
instead  of  from  Brest,  and  sailing  finally  on  April  the 
13th,  two  months  after  Jones  had  proposed  the  expe- 
dition, wasted  still  another  month  in  getting  into  the 
Atlantic.  Contrary  winds  still  more  delayed  the  fleet, 
and  it  was  not  until  July  the  8th  that  it  appeared  before 
the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  just  too  late  to  intercept 
the  little  British  squadron,  which  had  left  the  river  a 
few  days  earlier,  when  Howe  evacuated  Philadelphia. 
Washington  sent  his  aides,  Hamilton  and  Laurens,  out 
to  Sandy  Hook  when  the  fleet  arrived  off  the  entrance 
of  New  York  Bay,  where  they  held  a  council  of  war 
with  the  French  admiral.  Hamilton  had  brought  pilots 
with  him  to  conduct  the  vessels  through  the  channel, 
but  neither  his  pilots  nor  those  D'Estaing  had  brought 
with  him  from  the  Delaware  would  venture  to  take  the 
larger  ships  across  the  bar.  In  despair,  D'Estaing 
jumped  into  a  small  boat  to  try  and  reconnoitre  the 
passage  for  himself,  with  no  success.  Arguments  and 
inducements  alike  proved  fruitless,  and  so  the  little 
English  squadron  remained  safely  in  the  harbor  while 
the  great  French  fleet  lay  helpless  without,  and  this 
through  ignorance  which  seems  strange,  indeed,  and 
incredible  in  these  latter  days.  How  bitterly  and 
how  long  D'Estaing  felt  this  failure  is  vividly  told  by 
Jones. 

"  Count  D'Estaing  " — he  writes  curiously  in  this  for- 
gotten letter — "the  King  never  had  a  subject  who 


262  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

loved  him  better,  and  who  is  a  more  worthy  citizen.  I 
gave  the  plan  the  10th  of  February  1778.  That  long 
and  unnecessary  delay  rendered  it  scarcely  possible  for 
the  expedition  to  succeed.  This  was  no  fault  of  the 
Admiral.  He  would  have  surmounted  every  difficulty, 
and  taken  Lord  Howe  in  the  road  of  New  York,  if 
a  generous  sacrifice  of  his  own  fortune  150,000  livres, 
could  have  induced  the  pilot  to  conduct  him  over  the 
bar." 

The  letter,  too  long  to  quote  in  its  entirety,  breathes 
the  atmosphere  of  an  intimate  and  even  recent  conver- 
sation with  D'Estaing  himself,  and  might  well  remain 
as  an  apology  not  only  for  the  conduct  of  the  French 
commander  on  this  unsuccessful  expedition,  but  for  his 
character  and  entire  career. 

Jones  had  now  completed  the  alterations  of  the 
Ranger  and  was  again  ready  for  sea.  Leaving  Nantes 
on  the  12th  of  February,  with  Jonathan  Williams  and 
brother  aboard,  he  arrived  off  Quiberon  Bay  the  follow- 
ing morning.  He  bore  the  flag  of  a  new  nation  and 
was  determined  that  it  should  be  recognized  by  the 
admiral  of  the  French  squadron  at  Quiberon.  He  im- 
mediately sent  in  his  boat  to  demand  a  salute  for  the 
stars  and  stripes  from  the  French  commander.  How 
he  obtained  this  first  recognition  of  American  inde- 
pendence through  this  first  salute  to  the  nation's 
flag  is  related  in  his  own  words  in  a  naturally  jubilant 
account  to  the  marine  committee: 

I  am  happy  in  having  it  in  my  power  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  my  having  seen  the  American  Flag 
for  the  first  time  recognized  in  the  fullest  and  amplest 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  263 

manner  by  the  Flag  of  France.  The  Brig  Independence 
accepted  of  my  convoy  from  Nantes  to  this  place;  I 
was  off  the  Bay  the  13th,  and  sent  in  my  boat  to  know 
if  the  Admiral  would  return  my  salute.  He  answered 
that  he  would  return  to  me  as  the  Senior  American 
Continental  Officer  in  Europe  the  same  salute  which 
he  was  authorized  by  his  Court  to  return  to  an  Admiral 
of  Holland,  or  of  any  other  Republic,  which  was  Four 
Guns  less  than  the  salute  given.  I  hesitated  at  this, 
for  I  had  demanded  gun  for  gun,  but  after  a  very  par- 
ticular inquiry,  on  the  14th,  finding  that  he  had  really 
told  the  truth,  I  was  induced  to  accept  of  his  offer;  the 
more  so  as  it  was  in  fact  an  acknowledgment  of  Amer- 
ica's independence.  The  wind  being  contrary  and 
blowing  hard,  it  was  after  sunset  before  the  Ranger  got 
near  enough  to  salute  La  Motte  Picquet  with  13  guns, 
which  he  returned  with  9.  However,  to  put  the  mat- 
ter beyond  a  doubt  I  did  not  suffer  the  Independence  to 
salute  till  next  morning,  when  I  sent  word  to  the 
Admiral  that  I  should  sail  through  his  fleet  in  the  Brig, 
and  would  salute  him  in  open  day.  He  was  exceed- 
ingly pleased  and  returned  the  compliment  also  with 
9  guns. 

Elsewhere  Jones  states,  with  an  inference  very  ex- 
pressive of  the  courage  of  the  French  commander 
and  his  enthusiasm  for  the  cause  of  America,  that 
"Neither  he  nor  La  Motte  Picquet  had  at  this  time 
any  knowledge  that  the  Treaty  with  France  had  been 
signed." 

The  act  of  recognizing  the  American  flag  was,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  virtual  as  it  was  the  first  acknowl- 
edgment of  American  independence  by  France.  That 
this  gallant  officer  experienced  some  pleasure  in  the  in- 
teresting act  of  acknowledging  for  the  first  time  the 


264  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

independence  of  America  is  pleasantly  inferred  by 
Jones's  assurance  that  he  "was  exceedingly  pleased  at 
the  compliment." 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  the  man  who  thus 
gladly  and  promptly  acknowledged  our  national  ex- 
istence was  scarcely  less  distinguished  for  services  to 
his  country  than  the  young  commander  who  demanded 
it.  It  is  interesting  also  to  remember  that  the  first 
laurels  of  La  Motte  Picquet's  career  were  won  in  fight- 
ing for  America's  independence.  Enthusiasm  for  the 
new  nation,  and  for  the  cause  of  human  liberty  it  rep- 
resented, was  evidently  as  prevalent  among  the  young 
and  highly  born  officers  of  the  French  navy  as  among 
the  soldiers  who  were  so  eagerly  offering  their  services 
to  our  army.  It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  no 
officers  were  accepted  at  this  time  in  the  French  navy 
who  could  not  prove  their  noble  descent.  Here,  then, 
was  an  atmosphere  which  exactly  suited  Paul  Jones, 
and  where  indeed  his  charming  manners  and  his  en- 
thusiastic ideals  found  a  warm  welcome  and  appreci- 
ation. He  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  his  report  to 
the  marine  committee: 

This  squadron  is  officered  by  a  very  well  bred  set 
of  men.  They  have  all  visited  the  Ranger  and  ex- 
pressed great  satisfaction,  calling  her  a  "parfait  bijou." 
When  Mr.  Carmichael  and  myself  visited  their  ships, 
we  were  received  with  every  mark  of  respect  and  glad- 
ness, and  saluted  with  a  feu  de  joie. 

Another  extract  hints  at  the  manner  in  which  he  was 
intending  to  execute  the  unlimited  orders  of  the  com- 
missioners. 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  265 

I  have  in  contemplation  several  enterprises  of  im- 
portance, where  an  enemy  thinks  a  design  against  him 
improbable,  he  can  always  be  surprised  and  attacked 
with  advantage.  It  is  true  I  must  run  great  risk,  but 
no  gallant  action  was  ever  accomplished  without  dan- 
ger; therefore,  "although  I  cannot  ensure  success,  I 
will  endeavor  to  deserve  it." 

Writing  again  on  the  same  day  to  the  marine  com- 
mittee to  express  the  gratitude  which  filled  his  heart 
at  the  recollection  of  the  flattering  terms  they  had  used 
in  regard  to  him  in  their  letter  of  recommendation  to 
the  commissioners,  he  took  occasion  to  send  them  a 
patriotic  ode  indited  by  some  French  enthusiast  of 
the  American  cause,  and  recommends  the  author  to 
the  attention  of  Congress. 

This  somewhat  sentimental  proceeding,  although 
probably  not  unsympathetic  to  the  grave  forefathers  of 
our  Congress,  who  were  themselves  prone  to  express 
their  feelings  in  quotations  from  the  poets,  is  highly 
indicative  of  the  exhilaration  of  Jones's  emotions  at  this 
time.  The  first  accredited  standard-bearer  of  a  new 
nation,  he  was  received  with  the  most  flattering  atten- 
tions from  the  "well-bred"  officers  of  the  French  fleet. 
His  glory-loving  soul  basked  in  its  proper  atmosphere, 
and  the  laudatory  phrases  of  Congress  rang  harmoni- 
ously in  his  ears. 

His  correspondence  indicates  the  warm  and  affec- 
tionate intimacy  which  already  existed  between  his 
American  associates  and  himself,  and  abounds  in  refer- 
ences to  frequent  meetings  with  the  French  officers. 
The  flattering  reception  he  received  at  Quiberon  was 


266  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

repeated  at  Brest,  whither  he  repaired  on  the  3d  of 
March,  waiting  without  at  Cammeret,  as  he  relates  in 
his  journal  to  Louis  XVI,  until  the  French  ambassador 
at  London  had  formally  announced  the  treaty  between 
his  country  and  America.  On  the  23d  of  March  he 
entered  the  harbor  and  received  again  the  salute  to  his 
flag  from  Admiral  Count  d'Orvilliers,  in  command  of 
the  French  fleet.  It  was  not  until  a  month  later  that 
the  action  of  these  two  commanders  in  formally  recog- 
nizing the  American  flag  was  authorized  by  their  govern- 
ment. On  the  27th,  Sartine  wrote  to  L'Avigne  Buisson, 
at  Brest,  sending  him  instructions  to  that  effect. 

A  week  later,  on  the  31st  of  March,  Jones  wrote  for 
the  first  time  to  the  minister  of  the  French  marine. 
This  letter  was  the  first  of  a  long  and  voluminous 
correspondence  between  Jones  and  Sartine,  which  he 
wrote  with  the  evident  permission  of  Count  d'Orvilliers, 
furnishing  another  characteristic  example  of  his  meth- 
ods of  making  valuable  relations  with  those  in  power: 

Ranger,  Brest,  March  31s/,  1778. 
M.  de  Sartine,  Minister  and  Secretary  of) 
State  for  the  Marine  Department        ) 
Honored  Sir: — 

As  I  have  not  the  honor  of  being  known  to  you,  I 
hope  you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  of  enclosing  the 
copy  of  a  letter  from  the  Secret  Committee  of  Congress 
to  the  American  Commissioners  in  Europe.  I  must, 
however,  acknowledge  that  the  generous  praise  which 
is  therein  bestowed  on  me  by  Congress,  far  exceeds  the 
merits  of  my  services. 

My  reason  for  laying  this  matter  before  you  is,  be- 
cause I  am  destined  by  Congress  to  command  a  frigate 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  267 

of  a  very  large  construction  lately  built  at  Amsterdam, 
— and  as  political  reasons  made  it  necessary  for  that 
frigate  to  become  French  property,  I  am  now  induced 
to  hope  that  on  her  arrival  in  France,  she  will  again 
become  the  property  of  America,  and  of  course,  be  put 
under  my  command. 

The  within  extract  of  a  letter  dated  10th  Feb.  last, 
to  the  American  Commissioners  will,  I  hope,  prove  to 
you  the  real  satisfaction  with  which  I  have  anticipated 
the  happy  alliance  between  France  and  America. — I 
am,  sir,  convinced  that  the  capture  of  Lord  Howe's 
light  ships  and  frigates  in  America,  and  the  destruction 
of  the  enemy's  fishery  at  Newfoundland,  which  might 
easily  be  effected  this  summer,  would  effectually  de- 
stroy the  sinews  of  their  Marine,  for  they  would  after- 
ward be  unable  to  man  their  fleet;  and  as  to  their 
army  in  America,  that  must  fall  of  course. 

I  should  be  ungrateful  did  I  forget  to  acknowledge 
the  polite  attentions  and  favors  which  I  have  received 
from  Compte  d'Orvilliers,  M.  De  la  Porse,  M.  la  Motte 
Picquet,  and  every  officer  in  this  place. 

The  Admiral  d'Orvilliers  has,  I  doubt  not,  com- 
municated to  you  a  project  of  mine.  I  am,  sir,  am- 
bitious of  being  employed  in  active  and  enterprising 
services; — but  my  ship  is  of  too  small  a  force,  and 
does  not  sail  so  fast  as  I  could  wish.  If  I  am  success- 
ful I  will  return  to  France,  and  hope  for  your  counte- 
nance and  protection. 

I  have  addressed  you,  sir,  with  the  same  freedom 
which  has  ever  marked  my  correspondence  with  Con- 
gress. The  interests  of  France  and  America  are  the 
same;  and  as  I  hope  to  see  the  common  enemy  hum- 
bled, I  shall  be  happy  if  I  can  furnish  any  hint  whereby 
that  even  can  be  effected.  Meantime, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 

With  profound  respect  &c. 


268  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Jones  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  his  experi- 
ence at  Brest,  for  Count  d'Orvilliers  received  him  with 
every  mark  of  confidence  and  esteem,  and  invited  him 
constantly  to  his  table.  With  the  long  experience  of  an 
old  commander  he  recognized  at  once  that  he  had  to  do 
with  a  man  of  remarkable  ability,  possessing  that  rarest 
of  qualities,  an  imaginative  constructive  brain.  He 
not  only  introduced  him  to  M.  de  Sartine,  but  instantly 
recognized  the  value  of  Jones's  plan  for  Count  d'Es- 
taing's  expedition  and,  as  has  been  seen,  recommended 
it  to  his  court.  He  went  further  than  La  Motte  Pic- 
quet  in  his  recognition  of  the  flag  of  America,  for  he 
returned  eleven  guns  instead  of  nine  to  the  thirteen 
guns  of  the  Ranger.  He  assured  Jones  that  his  letter 
to  M.  de  Sartine  would  procure  him  the  eagerly  coveted 
command  of  the  In&ien,  and  recommended  the  in- 
tendant  of  the  port,  M.  de  la  Porte,  to  man  the  vessel, 
with  the  result  that  Jones  was  promised  four  hundred 
French  seamen  to  make  up  his  crew.  The  Indien  had 
finally  been  completed  and  launched  at  Amsterdam, 
and  Jones  had  every  expectation  of  finding  her  waiting 
for  him  at  Brest  upon  his  return  from  his  cruise  in  the 
little  Ranger.  Having  secured  D'Orvillier's  French 
ship  Fortuna  as  a  consort,  he  wrote  to  the  commis- 
sioners, on  the  4th  of  April,  that  he  was  ready  to  sail, 
saying  also  that  they  might  rest  assured  "that  I  shall 
leave  nothing  unattempted  that  can  be  expected  from 
the  small  force  under  my  command.  The  time  which 
has  been  lost  gives  me  the  deepest  concern,  but  I  know 
of  no  other  remedy  than  to  make  the  better  use  of 
that  to  come." 


ARRIVAL  IN  EUROPE  269 

On  the  9th  he  was  still  at  Brest.  "We  have  been 
out,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend  John  Ross,  "but  obliged 
to  put  back,  not  being  able  to  weather  Ushant.,,  His 
spirits  were  high  and  impatient,  and  expressed  with  a 
certain  youthful  ardor  of  feeling  which  creeps  with  re- 
freshing interest  into  the  official  pages  of  his  reports. 
"The  world,  as  Milton  said  of  Adam,  lays  all  before 
me,"  he  writes  again  to  Ross,  and  to  Silas  Deane  he 
declares:  "If  I  meet  with  much  Game,  I  may  continue 
the  sport  three  months."  He  wrote  affectionate  fare- 
wells to  Jonathan  Williams  and  "all  friends  at  Nantes," 
and  thus,  confident  and  happy  in  the  prospect  of  im- 
mediate action,  he  set  sail  on  April  the  10th  for  the 
first  of  those  descents  upon  the  British  coasts  which 
were  destined  to  prove  the  wisdom  as  well  as  the 
daring  of  his  conceptions. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE 

In  issuing  "unlimited"  orders  to  Jones,  the  commis- 
sioners followed  the  example  of  the  marine  committee, 
and  must  have  had  no  little  satisfaction  in  thus  re- 
lieving themselves  of  any  personal  responsibility  for 
his  possible  failure.  Their  experience  in  conducting 
what  was  among  many  other  offices  a  "naval  bureau" 
in  Europe,  had  been  marked  with  difficulties  and  dis- 
asters. Nothing  better  exemplifies  the  temper  of  the 
Americans  in  this  war  than  the  fact  that  it  was  carried 
boldly  into  European  waters  and  that  expeditions  and 
depredations  against  the  coasts  of  England,  her  com- 
merce, and  her  ships,  should  have  been  attempted  with 
the  absurdly  small  forces  at  the  command  of  the  com- 
missioners. Silas  Deane,  while  sole  agent  of  the  col- 
onies in  Europe,  had  been  occupied  with  a  zeal  and 
activity  which  should  not  be  forgotten  in  the  purchase 
and  building  of  the  Continental  cruisers  which  were 
destined  for  this  hazardous  service.  Franklin  himself, 
when  called  upon  to  share  the  responsibility  of  conduct- 
ing this  part  of  the  war,  was  by  no  means  backward 
in  devising  schemes  of  harassing  the  enemy,  although 
not  conspicuously  experienced  in  the  knowledge  or 
management  of  naval  affairs.  The  plans  he  suggested 
in  numerous  letters  to  Congress,  prior  to  Jones's  arrival, 
with  their  daring  guesses  at  what  a  more  professional 

270 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  271 

executant  was  about  to  attempt,  illuminate  another 
province  in  his  wellnigh  boundless  capacity.  He  de- 
clared that  he  had  not  "the  least  doubt  but  that  two 
or  three  of  the  continental  frigates  might  intercept  and 
seize  the  great  part  of  the  Baltic  and  northern  trade, 
and  that  one  frigate  would  be  sufficient  to  destroy 
the  whole  of  the  Greenland  whale  fishery  and  take  the 
Hudson's  Bay  ships  returning.' ' 

In  carrying  out  this  policy  of  aggressive  warfare  the 
captains  of  the  American  cruisers  had  met  with  some 
success,  but  several  serious  disasters.  Lambert  Wickes, 
who  brought  Franklin  to  Europe  in  the  Reprisal,  had 
sailed  alone  all  around  the  British  islands  in  his  little 
vessel,  capturing  many  British  ships  unaided  until 
joined  by  Captain  H.  Johnston  in  the  Lexington,  when 
they  made  several  successful  cruises  together;  but 
when  Wickes  took  refuge  in  French  ports  to  refit  and 
to  sell  his  captured  vessels  he  had  been  peremptorily 
ordered  out  by  the  French  Government.  Franklin 
attempted  to  evade  what  he  perfectly  realized  to  be 
a  breach  of  international  law  by  ordering  Wickes  to 
moor  his  vessels  somewhere  in  the  "  offing/  ■  con- 
tiguous to  the  ports,  and  there  secretly  to  sell  his 
prizes;  but  the  proceeding  was  fraught  with  danger  to 
the  invaluable  although  yet  unavowed  friendship  of 
France,  and  Wickes  was  finally  sent  away  from  Euro- 
pean waters  and  was  lost  at  sea,  off  the  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia,  going  down  with  the  little  vessel  in  which  he  had 
done  such  valiant  and  useful  service.  The  Lexington 
was  captured,  and  her  crew,  including  Richard  Dale, 
were  thrown  into  prison  in  England.   Gustavus  Conyng- 


272  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ham,  almost  as  celebrated  as  Paul  Jones  himself  for  the 
audacity  of  his  cruises  in  the  British  Channel,  had  been 
appointed  captain  of  a  secretly  armed  cruiser  sailing  as 
a  merchantman,  and  in  accomplishing  the  feat  of  capt- 
uring the  Harwich  packet  which  plied  between  Eng- 
land and  Holland  he  created  the  wildest  excitement  and 
alarm  in  England.  Unwisely,  however,  he  turned  back 
with  his  prize  into  the  open  port  of  Dunkirk,  that  very 
French  port  which  had  been  shorn  of  its  batteries  and 
put  under  English  surveillance  during  the  late  humiliat- 
ing conflict  between  France  and  England.  The  English 
authorities  complained  loudly  and  with  perfect  reason, 
with  the  result  that  the  prizes  were  given  up  to  the  en- 
emy, and  Conyngham  and  his  crew  thrown  into  jail  at 
Dunkirk.  No  sooner  was  Conyngham  released  by  the 
complaisant  intendant  of  the  port  than  he  sailed  on 
another  daring  predatory  raid,  but  was  again  captured, 
and  this  time  cast  into  a  British  military  prison, 
where,  in  a  dungeon  and  in  fetters,  he  was  subjected 
as  a  rebel  to  the  most  brutal  treatment. 

Paul  Jones  was  now  about  to  risk  these  dangers, 
with  an  ardor  undiminished  by  disaster.  Although 
given  a  free  hand  by  the  commissioners,  he  was  des- 
tined to  discover  that  his  officers  were  by  no  means 
ready  to  support  him.  Several  reasons  existed  for  this. 
In  the  first  place,  it  was  well  understood  by  both  officers 
and  crew  that  Jones  had  been  promised  command  of 
the  Indien  upon  his  arrival  in  Europe,  and  Lieutenant 
Simpson,  expecting  to  assume  the  command  of  the 
Ranger  as  soon  as  Jones  should  have  crossed  the  At- 
lantic, considered  himself  already  her  captain,  and  had 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  273 

imbued  the  crew  of  New  Englanders  with  this  idea. 
The  new  notions  of  republican  independence  were  also 
strongly  prevalent  among  them,  and  they  declared  that 
their  opinions,  as  representing  the  voice  of  the  people 
on  this  American  vessel,  should  prevail  even  over  those 
of  their  commander.  They  were  none  of  them  sym- 
pathetic with  Jones's  daring  schemes  of  warfare.  Some 
of  them  confessed  "they  had  no  turn  for  enterprise,,, 
and  all  were  infected  with  the  singular  greed  for  gain 
which  privateering  had  bred  in  American  seamen,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  government  service.  Jones  well  under- 
stood the  unheroic  temper  of  his  crew,  and  having  him- 
self advanced  a  portion  of  their  wages  to  induce  them 
to  sail  in  a  ship  of  war,  he  now  stipulated  with  the 
commissioners  for  rewards  to  insure  contentment  and 
proper  co-operation.  Their  gratitude  for  his  generos- 
ity took  the  usual  form  of  expectation  of  future  favors 
and  bound  them  in  sympathy  not  to  their  commander 
and  benefactor,  but  to  each  other  in  a  common  dispo- 
sition to  criticism  and  insubordination.  Such  was  the 
mettle  of  the  crew  which  Jones  had  to  depend  on  for 
aid  and  support  in  the  execution  of  his  plans.  Their 
aversion  to  anything  which  smacked  of  adventure 
brought  about  the  entire  failure  of  some  of  his  projects, 
and  only  sleepless  vigilance  and  unyielding  determina- 
tion enabled  him  to  prevail  against  their  opposition  to 
his  wishes.  He  relates  that  his  anxiety  was  so  keen 
that  he  remained  practically  sleepless  during  the  whole 
of  this  cruise,  snatching  a  few  hours  only  when  a 
momentary  halt  in  the  prosecution  of  his  daring 
schemes  permitted  him  to  repose. 


274  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  best  account  of  his  adventures  is  contained  in 
his  own  detailed  report,  sent  to  the  commissioners  a 
fortnight  after  the  completion  of  the  cruise: 

"  I  sailed  from  Brest,"  he  wrote,  "  on  April  10th.  My 
plan  was  extensive.  I  therefore  did  not  at  the  begin- 
ning wish  to  encumber  myself  with  prisoners.  On  the 
14th  I  took  a  Brigatine  between  Scylla  and  Cape  Clear 
bound  for  Ostend  with  a  cargo  of  flaxseed  for  Ireland, 
sunk  her,  and  proceeded  into  St.  George's  Channel. 
On  the  17th  I  took  the  ship  Lord  Chatham  with  a  cargo 
of  porter  and  a  variety  of  merchandise  and  almost 
within  sight  of  her  port.  The  ship  I  manned  and  or- 
dered for  Brest." 

On  the  next  day  toward  nightfall  the  Ranger  was  off 
the  Isle  of  Man,  and  the  weather  being  fair  and  the 
winds  favorable,  he  steered  his  course  toward  the  town 
of  Whitehaven.  Out  of  this  port,  which  was  situated 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  Firth  of  Forth,  directly  op- 
posite to  his  Scottish  home  in  Arbigland,  he  had  sailed 
as  a  boy  and  every  feature  of  the  town  and  shore  was 
familiar  to  him.  It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  by 
the  fact  that  Jones  chose  this  spot  for  the  purpose  of 
dealing  out  a  just  retaliation  for  the  wanton  destruc- 
tion practised  by  the  English  on  the  American  coasts; 
but  his  former  familiarity  not  only  with  the  locality, 
but  also  with  the  unsuspecting  temper  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, was  unquestionably  the  reason  which  influenced 
him  in  his  choice.  On  the  evening  of  the  18th  he 
was  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  his  boats  manned 
and  ready  to  start;  but  before  eleven  the  wind  sud- 
denly shifted  and  greatly  increased,  blowing  directly 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  275 

inshore,  and  raising  such  a  sea  as  to  make  a  landing 
impossible.  Jones  was  now  in  the  greatest  danger 
of  losing  his  ship,  for  he  had  approached  so  near  that 
he  was  forced  to  crowd  on  all  sail  to  escape  from  being 
dashed  upon  the  rocks.  He  succeeded,  however,  in 
avoiding  this  danger,  and  getting  away  to  sea  to  await 
another  and  more  favorable  opportunity. 

On  the  18th,  in  Glenbue  Bay,  off  the  southern  coast 
of  Scotland,  he  met  a  revenue  wherry  which  he  antic- 
ipated would  engage  his  apparently  unarmed  ship, 
but  in  this  he  was  mistaken,  for  the  wherry  outsailed 
the  Ranger  and  made  her  escape.  The  next  morning 
off  the  Mull  of  Galloway,  he  found  himself  near  a 
Scotch  coasting  schooner,  and  in  spite  of  the  risk  of 
exposing  the  true  character  of  the  Ranger  he  relates 
characteristically  that  "he  could  not  avoid  sinking 
her."  A  rumor  of  the  presence  of  a  fleet  of  ten  or 
twelve  merchantmen  at  anchor  in  Loughryan  Bay 
tempted  him  to  a  descent  upon  that  place,  but  a  hard 
squall  arising  again  intervened  to  protect  the  Scottish 
coast,  and  deterred  him  from  his  intention.  He  chased 
a  cutter  steering  for  the  Clyde,  this  also  ineffectually; 
but  sunk  a  sloop  from  Dublin  to  prevent  her  from  giv- 
ing information  of  his  presence  in  those  waters.  On 
the  20th,  off  Carrickfergus,  a  fishing-boat  boarded  the 
Ranger  and  from  her  crew,  whom  Jones  detained  on 
finding  they  were  pilots,  he  received  the  welcome  news 
that  a  ship  he  perceived  at  anchor  in  Belfast  Lough 
was  the  British  sloop-of-war  Drakef  of  twenty  guns. 
He  immediately  formed  a  plan  of  attacking  her  dur- 
ing the  night  by  an  exceedingly  brilliant  manoeuvre, 


276  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

which  failed  only  through  the  incapacity  of  his  subordi- 
nates. 

"My  plan,"  he  said,  "was  to  overlay  her  cable  and 
to  fall  upon  her  bow,  so  as  to  have  all  her  decks  ex- 
posed to  our  musketry,  etc.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
my  intention  to  have  secured  the  enemy  by  grappling, 
so  that,  had  they  cut  their  cables,  they  would  not 
thereby  have  gained  an  advantage.  The  wind  was 
high  and  unfortunately  the  anchor  was  not  let  go  so 
soon  as  the  order  was  given,  so  that  the  Ranger  was 
brought  up  on  the  enemy's  quarter,  at  the  distance  of 
half  a  cables  length.  We  had  made  no  warlike  appear- 
ance, of  course,  had  given  no  alarm;  this  determined 
me  to  cut  immediately,  which  might  appear  as  if  the 
cable  had  parted,  and  at  the  same  time  enabling  me, 
after  making  attack  out  of  the  Lough,  to  return,  with 
the  same  prospect  of  advantage  which  I  had  at  the 
first." 

But  the  wind  once  more  interfered,  increasing  to  a 
gale,  before  which  the  Ranger  drove,  barely  escaping 
the  light-house  rocks,  and  this  protecting  gale  continued 
with  a  stormy  sea  until  the  morning  of  the  22d,  when, 
as  Jones  writes  again,  with  a  youthful  hint  of  pleasure 
and  excitement:  "The  weather  was  once  more  fair, 
though  the  three  kingdoms,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  were  covered  with  snow." 

Again  the  Whitehaven  plan  came  uppermost  in  his 
mind,  and  with  great  difficulty  he  managed  to  persuade 
a  party  of  thirty-one  men  to  make  the  descent.  At 
midnight,  having  waited  again  for  the  capricious  wind, 
which  had  so  often  foiled  his  projects,  he  left  the  ship 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  277 

at  last,  with  two  boat-loads,  with  the  intention  of  set- 
ting fire  to  the  shipping  in  the  port.  He  commanded 
the  first  boat  himself,  leaving  the  other  to  Lieutenant 
Wallingsford.  The  tide  was  running  ebb,  so  that  as 
he  writes: 

When  we  reached  the  outer  pier  the  day  began  to 
dawn.  I  would  not,  however,  abandon  my  enterprise, 
but  despatched  one  boat  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Hill  and  Lieutenant  Wallingsford,  with  the  necessary 
combustibles  in  the  North  side  of  the  harbor,  while  I 
went  with  the  other  party  to  attempt  the  South  side. 

The  two  docks  lay  parallel  to  each  other,  divided 
only  by  a  stone  pier,  and  the  task  which  Jones  confided 
to  his  officers  should  not  have  been  difficult  of  accom- 
plishment. After  the  issuing  of  these  orders  he  con- 
sidered it  necessary  to  disarm  the  batteries  of  the  two 
forts,  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  so  as  to 
insure  the  safe  retirement  of  his  party  after  the  attack. 
With  this  idea  in  view  he  left  several  of  his  own  boat's 
crew  to  make  all  in  readiness  to  fire  the  shipping  in  the 
southern  basin  upon  his  return,  and  with  the  others  he 
rowed  out  to  the  strip  of  shore  which  lay  under  the 
walls  of  the  northern  fort.  With  no  scaling-ladders 
their  only  way  of  entering  the  fort  was  to  mount  upon 
each  other's  shoulders,  when  they  climbed  in  through 
the  embrasures,  Jones  himself  in  the  lead,  and  found 
everything  silent  and  deserted,  and  all  the  sentinels 
soundly  asleep  in  the  guard-house.  This  was  precisely 
what  Jones  had  expected  and  counted  upon,  and  he 
relates  with  satisfaction  that  he  "secured  them  all  un- 


278  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

harmed."  It  was  now  fairly  daylight,  and  haste  was 
imperative.  He  spiked  all  the  guns  and  left  his  own 
men  on  guard,  taking  one  man  only  (Mr.  Green),  to 
accompany  him  to  the  southern  fort,  where  he  also 
spiked  all  the  guns  without  trouble  or  resistance. 

"On  my  return  from  this  business,"  he  says,  "I  natu- 
rally expected  to  see  the  fire  of  the  ships  on  the  North 
side  as  well  as  to  find  my  own  party  with  everything 
in  readiness.  Instead  of  this,  I  found  a  boat  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Hill  and  Lieut.  Wallingsford  returned, 
and  the  party  in  some  confusion,  their  light  having  gone 
out  at  the  instant  it  became  necessary,  and  by  the 
strangest  fatility,  my  own  party  was  in  the  same  situ- 
ation. The  day,  too,  had  come  on  apace,  yet  I  would 
by  no  means  retreat,  while  any  hopes  of  success  re- 
mained." 

Jones  now  placed  sentinels,  and  having  again  pro- 
cured a  light  from  a  lonely  house  far  away  from  the 
town,  he  kindled  at  last,  with  his  own  hands,  a  fire  in 
the  steerage  of  a  large  ship  which  the  tide  had  left 
stranded,  and  which  was  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
other  vessels  all  aground,  and  lying  closely  side  by 
side.  There  was  no  time  to  kindle  other  fires,  barely 
enough  to  feed  the  one  already  lighted  by  adding  the 
contents  of  a  tar  barrel  found  after  considerable  dif- 
ficulty. 

"The  inhabitants  now  began  to  appear  in  thou- 
sands," Jones  continues,  "and  individuals  ran  hastily 
toward  us.  I  stood  between  them  and  the  ship  on  fire, 
with  a  pistol  in  my  hand,  and  ordered  them  to  retire, 
which  they  did  with  precipitation.    The  flames  had 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  279 

already  caught  the  rigging  and  began  to  ascend  the 
mainmast;  the  sun  was  a  full  hours  march  above  the 
horizon  and  as  sleep  no  longer  ruled  the  world,  it  was 
time  to  retire." 

Again  the  note  of  youthful  ardor  creeps  into  the  re- 
cital of  this  daring  exploit,  which  is  repeated  in  his  fol- 
lowing description  of  the  moment  when  he  stood  alone 
on  the  pier,  surveying  with  imperturbable  coolness  the 
scene  of  awe  and  consternation  which  he  had  created. 

After  all  my  people  had  embarked,  I  stood  alone 
upon  the  pier  for  a  considerable  time,  yet  no  person 
advanced.  I  saw  all  the  eminences  around  the  town 
covered  with  the  amazed  inhabitants.  When  we  had 
rowed  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  shore,  the 
English  began  to  run  in  vast  numbers  to  their  forts. 
There  disappointment  may  easily  be  imagined  when 
they  found  at  least  thirty  heavy  cannon,  the  instru- 
ments of  their  vengeance,  rendered  useless.  At  length, 
however,  they  began  to  fire,  having,  as  I  apprehend, 
either  brought  down  ships'  guns  or  used  one  or  two 
cannon  which  lay  on  the  beach  and  which  had  not  been 
spiked.  They  fired  with  no  direction,  and  the  shot, 
falling  short  of  the  boats,  instead  of  doing  us  any  dam- 
age, afforded  some  diversion,  which  my  people  could 
not  help  showing  by  discharging  their  pistols,  etc.,  in 
return  of  the  salute.  Had  it  been  possible  to  have 
landed  a  few  hours  sooner,  my  success  would  have  been 
complete.  Not  a  single  ship  out  of  more  than  two 
hundred,  could  possible  have  escaped,  and  all  the  world 
would  not  have  been  able  to  save  the  town.  What 
was  done,  however,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  not  all 
their  boasted  navy  can  protect  their  own  coast,  and 
that  the  scenes  of  distress  which  they  have  occasioned 
to  America,  may  be  soon  brought  home  to  their  own 


280  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

door.  One  of  my  people1  was  missing,  and  must,  I 
fear,  have  fallen  into  the  enemies  hands  after  our  de- 
parture. I  was  pleased  that  in  this  business  we  neither 
killed  nor  wounded  any  person.  I  brought  off  three 
prisoners  as  a  sample. 

In  his  "Memorial"  addressed  to  Congress  from  the 
Texel,  in  1779,  Jones  further  elucidates  the  object  he 
had  in  view  in  this  expedition,  and  explains  his  lieuten- 
ant's failure  to  carry  out  his  part  of  the  plan  to  burn 
the  shipping  at  Whitehaven: 

My  first  object  was  to  secure  an  exchange  of  pris- 
oners in  Europe,  and  my  second  to  put  an  end,  by  one 
good  fire  in  England  of  shipping,  to  all  the  burnings  to 
America.  I  succeeded  in  the  first,  even  by  means  far 
more  glorious  than  my  most  flattering  ideas  had  ex- 
pected, when  I  left  France.  In  the  second,  I  en- 
deavored to  deserve  success,  but  a  wise  officer  of  mine 
observed  that  "it  was  a  rash  thing,  and  that  nothing 
could  be  got  by  burning  poor  people's  property."  I 
must,  however,  do  him  the  justice  to  mention  his  ac- 
knowledgment that  he  had  no  turn  for  enterprise,  and 
I  must  also  do  justice  to  my  former  officers  in  the  Provi- 
dence and  the  Alfred  by  declaring  that  had  they  been 
with  me  in  the  Ranger,  250  or  300  sail  of  large  ships  at 
Whitehaven  would  have  been  laid  in  ashes. 

1This  man,  according  to  a  foot-note  in  the  Edinburgh  "Life  of 
Jones,"  was  a  sailor  called  David  Freeman,  who  voluntarily  remained 
on  shore,  having  given  information  that  fire  had  been  set  to  a  ship.  In 
an  alarmed  notice  of  the  Whitehaven  attack,  published  in  the  Cumber- 
land Packet  of  April  28,  1778,  he  is  described  as  the  "savior  of  the 
town."  Another  account  says  that  this  man  was  seen  running  from 
house  to  house  shouting  that  the  Americans  had  landed  and  were  firing 
the  shipping,  and  the  Gentlemen's  Magazine  for  1778  states  that  the  de- 
struction of  the  town  was  "providentially  prevented  by  the  exertions 
of  the  inhabitants,  who  extinguished  the  flames  before  they  reached 
the  rigging  of  the  ships." 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  281 

How  often  Paul  Jones  must  have  compared  those 
beloved  and  loyal  officers  of  the  Alfred  and  Providence 
to  the  motley  and  mutinous  crews  which  later  he  was 
called  upon  to  command.  Ill-clad  and  ill-fed,  they 
shared  with  him  the  dangers  of  the  northern  seas,  were 
fired  by  his  enthusiasm,  grateful  for  his  generosity,  and 
only  too  anxious  to  sail  again  with  him.  It  has  fre- 
quently been  charged  by  his  detractors  that  Paul  Jones 
was  an  overbearing  and  unpopular  commander.  If  he 
had  been  fortunate  enough  always  to  have  been  fur- 
nished with  crews  like  those  of  the  Alfred  and  the  Provi- 
dence it  is  safe  to  say  that  he  never  would  have  ap- 
peared to  deserve  this  imputation.  The  facts  in  regard 
to  the  disposition  of  the  Ranger1  s  crew,  set  forth  in  his 
own  reports  to  the  commissioners,  and  most  amply 
supported  by  the  subsequent  history  of  these  men,  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  Jones's  patience  with  their  in- 
subordination was  nothing  short  of  marvellous,  and  the 
success  attained  with  their  support  an  extraordinary 
example  of  tact  and  determination. 

Not  having  sole  power  to  choose  the  officers  of  the 
Ranger }  he  had  been  compelled  to  accept  the  selections 
of  the  two  other  members  of  the  commission  appointed 
by  Congress,  John  Langdon  and  Abraham  Whipple. 
These  New  England  men,  the  first  and  most  important 
men  in  Portsmouth,  were  both  more  or  less  sectional  in 
their  sympathies  and  had  no  mind  to  give  the  "  North 
Carolina  Captain"  too  much  authority,  particularly  in 
their  own  territory.  Although  permitted  to  take  upon 
himself  the  tedious  and  troublesome  duties  of  equip- 
ping the  Ranger  and  of  advancing  the  wages  of  the  crew 


282  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

to  induce  them  to  engage,  Jones  himself  had,  in  fact, 
named  one  single  officer,  Captain  Parke,  of  the  marines. 
Neither  the  first  lieutenant,  Simpson,  nor  the  second, 
Elijah  Hall,  had  ever  sailed  before  in  a  ship  of  war. 
Before  starting  on  his  cruise  against  the  British  coasts, 
Jones,  having  discovered  the  animosity  of  his  crew  to- 
ward Captain  Parke,  for  harmony's  sake  had  sent  him 
back  to  America.  Eight  of  the  crew  deserted  in  Qui- 
beron  when  they  discovered  that  Jones's  intentions  were 
more  extensive  than  a  mere  cruise  after  merchant-ships, 
and  Simpson  and  others  of  the  officers  and  crew  flatly 
refused  to  obey  orders.  This  spirit  of  insubordination 
so  increased  that  before  they  left  Brest  a  conspiracy  had 
already  been  formed  to  kill  or  confine  their  captain  and 
return  to  America  under  Lieutenant  Simpson.  This 
mutinous  disposition  continued  throughout  the  cruise, 
was  the  reason  of  the  failure  to  effect  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  the  shipping  at  Whitehaven,  and  caused  the 
unfortunate  outcome  of  Jones's  plan  of  descent  upon 
Lord  Selkirk's  castle  on  Saint  Mary's  Isle.  This  cele- 
brated raid  took  place  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day 
of  the  attempt  on  Whitehaven  and  is  briefly  mentioned 
in  the  next  paragraph  of  Jones's  report  to  the  commis- 
sioners. This  part  of  his  narrative,  together  with  the 
curious  correspondence  connected  with  the  incident, 
will  be  more  fully  considered  later. 

In  regard  to  his  capture  of  the  Drake  Jones's  narra- 
tive again  becomes  copious  and  detailed. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th,  I  was  again  off  Carrick 
Fergus  and  would  have  gone  in  had  I  not  seen  the 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  283 

Drake  preparing  to  come  out — it  was  very  moderate 
and  the  Drake's  boat  was  sent  out  to  reconnoitre  the 
Ranger.  As  the  boat  advanced,  I  kept  the  ship's  stern 
directly  towards  her,  and  though  they  had  a  spy  glass 
in  the  boat,  they  came  on  within  hail  and  alongside. 
When  the  officer  came  on  the  quarterdeck,  he  was 
greatly  surprised  to  find  himself  a  prisoner,  although 
an  express  had  arrived  from  Whitehaven  the  night 
before.  I  now  understood  what  I  had  before  imagined, 
that  the  Drake  came  out  in  consequence  of  this  infor- 
mation, with  volunteers  against  the  Ranger.  The  officer 
told  me  also,  that  they  had  taken  up  the  Ranger's 
anchor.  The  Drake  was  attended  by  five  small  vessels 
full  of  people  who  were  led  by  curiousity  to  see  an 
engagement,  but  when  they  saw  the  Drake's  boat  at 
the  Ranger's  side,  they  wisely  put  back.  Alarm  smokes 
now  appeared  in  great  abundance,  extending  along  on 
both  sides  of  the  channel.  The  tide  was  unfavorable, 
so  that  the  Drake  worked  out  but  slowly.  This  obliged 
me  to  run  down  several  times  and  to  lay  with  courses 
up,  and  main  topsail  to  the  mast.  At  length  the  Drake 
weathered  the  point  and  having  led  her  out  to  about 
midchannel  I  suffered  her  to  come  within  hail.  The 
Drake  hoisted  English  colors,  and  at  the  same  instant 
the  American  stars  were  displayed  on  board  the 
Ranger.  I  expected  that  preface  had  now  been  at  an 
end,  but  the  enemy  soon  after  hailed,  demanding  what 
ship  it  was.  I  directed  the  master  to  answer  "  the  Ameri- 
can Continental  ship  Ranger;  that  we  waited  for  them 
and  desired  that  they  would  come  on;  the  sun  was  now 
a  little  more  than  an  hour  from  setting,  and  it  was 
therefore  time  to  begin."  The  Drake  being  astern  of 
the  Ranger,  I  ordered  the  helm  up  and  gave  her  the 
first  broadside.  The  action  was  warm,  close  and 
obstinate.  It  lasted  an  hour  and  four  minutes,  when 
the  enemy  called  for  quarters;  her  four  and  main  top- 


284  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

sail  yards  being  both  cut  away  and  down  on  the  cap; 
the  top  gallant  yard  and  mizzen  gaff  both  hanging  up 
and  down  along  the  mast;  the  second  ensign  which  they 
had  hoisted  shot  away  and  hanging  in  the  water;  the 
sails  and  rigging  entirely  cut  to  pieces,  her  masts  and 
yards  all  wounded  and  her  hull  very  much  galled.  I 
lost  only  Lieutenant  Wallingsford,  and  one  seaman, 
John  Dougall,  killed,  and  six  wounded,  among  whom  are 
the  gunner,  Mr.  Falls  and  Mr.  Powers,  a  midshipman, 
who  lost  his  arm.  One  of  the  wounded,  Nathanial 
Wills,  is  since  dead,  the  rest  will  recover.  The  loss  of 
the  enemies  killed  and  wounded  is  much  greater.  All 
the  prisoners  allow  that  they  came  out  with  a  number 
not  less  than  160  men  and  many  of  them  affirm  that 
they  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  ninety.  The  me- 
dium may  perhaps  be  the  most  exact  account;  and  by 
that  it  will  appear  that  they  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
forty-two  men.  The  captain  and  lieutenant  were 
among  the  wounded,  the  former  having  received  a 
musket  ball  in  the  head  the  minute  before  they  called 
for  quarter,  lived  and  was  sensible  some  time  after  my 
people  boarded  the  prize.  The  lieutenant  survived  two 
days.  They  were  buried  with  the  honors  due  to  their 
rank  and  the  respect  due  their  memory. 

Here,  then,  was  a  victory  won  fairly  in  open  fight 
within  sight  of  the  enemy's  coast  and  in  the  view  of 
hundreds  of  spectators,  over  a  fully  armed  English 
man-of-war.  Victory  was  on  the  side  of  the  Americans 
from  the  firing  of  the  first  broadside.  Although  slightly 
verbose  and  over-eloquent  in  his  answer  to  the  enemy's 
appeal,  a  method  which  one  commentator  thinks  was 
adopted  for  the  purpose  of  getting  his  ship  in  line  for 
the  first  manoeuvre,  Jones  was  short  and  sharp  enough 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  285 

in  action.  Before  the  enemy  was  aware  of  his  intent, 
he  ran  the  Ranger  across  the  bows  of  the  Drake,  raking 
her  decks  with  a  destructive  fire  and  thus  gaining  an 
advantage  which  in  the  broadside  to  broadside  contest 
which  followed  was  never  recovered  by  the  English. 
The  superior  handling  of  the  Ranger  over  that  of  the 
Drake,  which  belonged  to  a  regularly  established  and 
wellnigh  universally  victorious  navy,  is  all  the  more  re- 
markable in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  equipment  of  the 
Ranger  was  experimental  and  defective,  and  its  officers, 
with  the  exception  of  the  captain,  totally  without  ex- 
perience in  war. 

In  considering  the  relative  merits  of  the  victory,  it 
is  seen  by  Jones's  report  that  the  English  ship  carried 
twice  as  many  men  as  the  American.  The  Ranger's 
guns  were  eighteen  six-pounders,  while  according  to 
the  principal  witness  in  the  English  court-martial,  held 
over  the  survivors  of  the  battle,  the  Drake's  guns,  al- 
though twenty  in  number,  were  four-pounders.  This 
advantage,  however,  may  fairly  be  considered  as  di- 
minished by  the  shortness  of  the  Ranger's  guns  (a  defect 
of  which  Jones  had  complained)  and  more  than  bal- 
anced by  the  numerical  superiority  of  the  Drake's  crew, 
all  fully  supplied  with  small  arms,  and  by  her  greater 
size  and  heavier  construction.  Professor  Laughton, 
an  able  although  partisan  English  authority,  states  in 
extenuation  of  the  loss  of  the  Drake,  that  "her  crew 
was  increased  by  a  number  of  newly  raised  men,  and 
that  there  was  no  gunner,  no  cartridges  filled  and  no 
preparation  for  handling  powder."  It  is  also  stated 
that  the  first  lieutenant,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle, 


286  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

had  boarded  the  Drake  as  she  was  warping  out  of  the 
channel,  to  take  the  place  of  the  officer  who  had  died 
two  days  before  the  engagement.  Captain  Burden, 
who  was  also  mortally  wounded  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
before  his  ship  surrendered,  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  question  of  the  court-martial  as  to  why  he  delib- 
erately took  his  vessel  out  in  an  unprepared  condition 
to  meet  and  capture  the  Ranger.1  A  confession  of  un- 
readiness for  battle  is  hardly  an  apology  for  defeat,  nor 
does  the  admitted  fact  that  the  forts  at  Whitehaven 
were  guarded  by  sleeping  sentinels  excuse  the  weakness 
of  the  English  coast  defences.  Jones  also  had  his  diffi- 
culties with  his  insubordinate  and  almost  unmanageable 
crew.  A  drunken  quartermaster  caused  the  failure  of 
his  first  bold  attack  upon  the  Drake,  a  disobedient 
officer  wellnigh  rendered  abortive  the  descent  upon 
Whitehaven,  and,  according  to  his  account  drawn  up  for 
King  Louis  XVI,  his  officers  not  only  planned  to  leave 
him  on  shore  at  Whitehaven,  but  refused  to  engage  the 
Drake  in  open  day,  as  he  earnestly  desired,  and  were 
again  in  open  mutiny  and  planning  to  throw  him  over- 
board when  the  English  ship,  toward  nightfall,  fortu- 
nately volunteered  the  battle  and  forced  them  to  de- 
fend their  lives. 

In  Jones's  journal  for  Louis  XVI  he  states,  "that 
plunder  rather  than  honor  was  the  object  of  the 

1  George  Roberts,  of  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  who  was  a  seaman  on 
the  Ranger,  has  left  an  account  of  a  visit  to  the  Drake  immediately  after 
her  capture.  He  found  the  dead  body  of  an  English  officer  in  the  uni- 
form of  the  land  service,  who  had  come  to  see  the  Yankees  whipped. 
The  hogshead  of  rum  which  had  been  sent  on  board  to  drink  to 
their  victory  had  been  demolished  by  a  cannon-ball. — (Boston  Public 
Library.) 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  287 

Ranger's  officers  and  crew,"  and  that  on  his  announcing 
his  intention  of  giving  battle  to  the  Drake  the  crew  of 
the  Ranger  revolted,  "and  I  ran  every  chance  of  be- 
ing killed  or  thrown  over-board."  The  truth  of  this 
statement  is  attested  by  the  certificate  of  Lieutenant 
Meyer,  a  Swedish  officer  who  had  entered  the  service 
of  the  United  States  under  the  auspices  of  Silas  Deane 
and  was  on  board  the  Ranger.1 

The  personal  element  in  Jones's  conduct  of  this  cele- 
brated battle  was  therefore  solely  responsible  for  the 
victory.  His  ship,  according  to  Professor  Laughton's 
admission,  was  well  handled  and  well  fought,  and  this 
result  was  accomplished  by  the  extraordinary  char- 
acter of  its  commander  who,  at  the  moment  of  action, 
could  inspire  an  inexperienced  and  rebellious  crew  with 

1  "I,  Jean  Meyer,  lieutenant  in  the  Infantry  regiment  of  the  Baron  de 
Fleming,  in  the  service  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Sweden,  on  leave  with 
permission  of  the  court,  do  certify,  to  all  it  may  concern  that  I  em- 
barked at  Nantes  in  Brittanny,  on  the  12th  February,  1778,  in  the 
frigate  Ranger  commanded  by  Captain  Paul  Jones,  to  whom  I  was 
recommended  by  M.  le  Comte  de  Kraitz,  ambassador  of  his  majesty 
at  the  court  of  France,  in  pursuance  of  my  purpose  of  entering  the  ser- 
vice of  Congress  under  the  auspices  of  M.  Silas  Deane,  who  told  me  to 
report  to  the  Honbl  Robert  Morris,  an  order  which  I  was  unable  to  obey. 
The  said  Captain  Jones  deciding  to  cruise  in  St  Georges  channel, 
brought  me  finally  back  to  France.  During  the  cruise  I  observed  that 
cabals  and  plots  were  being  formed  against  the  said  Captain  Jones.  To 
assure  myself  of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  my  suspicion  I  questioned  a 
Swedish  sailor  by  the  name  of  Shoondelin  who  spoke  English  perfectly 
and  who  informed  me  that  the  crew  supported  by  the  majority  of  the 
officers  had  decided  to  sieze  the  person  of  their  captain  whom  they  dis- 
liked because  he  was  a  Scotchman  with  the  intention  of  throwing  him 
overboard,  or  at  least  to  put  him  in  irons.  They  intended  afterwards 
to  choose  Lieutenant  Simpson  for  their  captain,  to  take  them  back  to 
America  their  country,  where  all  ardently  desired  to  return.  I  imme- 
diately informed  Captain  Jones  of  this  plot,  happily  for  him,  for  if  he 
had  not  been  warned  of  the  misfortune  which  threatened  him,  one  day 
when  the  master  had  the  temerity  to  attack  him,  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  over  come  (all  the  officers  being  hostile  to  him,  and  having 


288  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

something  of  his  own  skill  and  enthusiasm.  Nothing 
short  of  his  unequalled  pertinacity,  his  own  inflexible 
determination  and  superb  self-confidence,  could  have 
succeeded  under  such  conditions.  The  practical  re- 
sults of  this  brilliant  victory  were  great  and  immediate. 
The  contemporary  English  newspapers  abound  in  ac- 
counts of  the  arming  of  defensive  fleets  and  of  their 
ports  and  of  the  re-establishment  of  coast  guards. 
Householders  prepared  to  remove  their  goods  to  places 
of  safety,  and  bankers  packed  up  their  gold  in  boxes 
and  retired  to  the  country.  In  London  stocks  fell  and 
insurance  rates  on  merchant-ships,  which  had  already 
greatly  risen  after  Conyngham's  cruises  and  captures, 
were  now  trebled.  The  moral  effect  of  this  one  man's 
exploits  was  still  more  remarkable  and  far-reaching. 

by  previous  agreement  scatted  to  different  parts  of  the  ship)  if  the  brave 
captain  had  not  pointed  his  pistol  at  the  head  of  his  assailant.  I  attest 
also  that  on  the  day  when  we  made  the  landing  in  two  boats  at  the  port 
of  Whitehaven,  that  the  captain  had  hardly  left  the  first  boat  in  which 
I  accompanied  him,  together  with  a  few  sailors,  to  take  possession  of 
the  forts  when  the  other  men  who  remained  in  the  boat  tried  to  pur- 
suade  me  not  to  land,  because  if  the  captain  did  not  return  immediately 
they  intended  to  leave  him  behind  and  to  return  to  the  ship.  This  plan 
had  undoubtedly  been  concerted  with  Captain  Hill  and  Lieutenant 
Wallenson  (WaUingsford)  for  they  delayed  a  long  time  before  landing 
from  the  other  boat  to  second  Jones  in  his  plan,  according  to  his  direc- 
tions. Jones  called  to  them  several  times.  Finally,  however,  when 
they  saw  their  commander  on  the  ramparts,  and  heard  his  summons 
to  come  and  share  the  glory  with  him,  they  decided  to  join  him.  I  only 
left  my  boat  at  the  last  moment,  because  I  wanted  to  watch  the  sailors, 
who  remained  with  me,  to  see  to  it,  in  case  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr.  Wallenson 
went  off  with  their  boat  that  ours  should  be  ready  to  receive  the  valiant 
captain,  renowned  in  both  the  old  and  new  worlds  for  actions  which  have 
brought  him  immortal  reputation — ,  and  to  take  him  back  to  the  ship 
to  resume  his  command.  I  affirm  that  no  reason  except  a  regard  for 
truth  and  justice  which  are  alike  the  illuminating  guides  of  my  con- 
science has  dictated  this  certificate,  and  that  I  sign  it  in  the  hope  that 
it  may  be  of  service  and  value  to  whomever  it  may  concern.  At  Dun- 
kirk, April,  1778." 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  289 

An  immediate  and  very  extraordinary  result  of  the 
terror  which  his  successful  attacks  upon  their  coasts 
produced  upon  the  English  people  was  the  development 
which  actually  occurred  at  this  time  of  a  permanent 
volunteer  service*  In  a  book  entitled  "  The  Annals  of  a 
Yorkshire  House,"  which  relates  the  history  of  Colonel 
George  Stanhope's  connection  with  this  service,  is  found 
the  following  description  of  the  volunteer  camps  which 
were  organized  in  the  year  1778: 

In  1778  when  the  conclusion  was  announced  of  the 
treaty  of  commerce  between  France  and  the  States  of 
America,  a  war  with  France  appeared  imminent,  and 
excitement  was  universal  at  the  prospect.  Partly  on 
that  account,  partly  owing  to  the  alarm  occasioned  by 
the  depredations  of  Paul  Jones,  the  celebrated  Priva- 
teer who  greatly  hampered  British  commerce,  the 
militia  was  called  out,  and  the  country  began  arming 
itself.  Stanhope,  who  had  ardently  wished  for  a  regi- 
ment was  delighted  on  April  17th  of  that  year  to  receive 
a  cordial  letter  from  Lord  Rockingham  announcing 
that  "I  have  been  able  to  give  you  what  you  so  desire, 
a  captain's  commission,  in  the  command  of  the  com- 
pany in  the  regiment  of  militia  in  the  West  Riding  of 
Yorkshire,  whereof  Sir  George  Savile  is  Colonel."  If 
anything  had  been  required  to  whet  Stanhope's  ardour, 
the  events  of  that  April  must  have  done  so.  On  the 
23rd  of  that  month  Jones,  after  a  bold  attack  upon  the 
Drake  Sloop  of  War,  entered  Whitehaven,  and  made  an 
attempt  to  set  on  fire  the  three  hundred  ships  which 
lay  there.  Forced  to  make  his  escape,  without  having 
achieved  his  object,  he  landed  on  St.  Mary's  Isle  in- 
tending to  kidnap  Lord  Selkirk,  and  hold  him  hostage. 
The  Earl  was  absent  from  home,  but  Jones  followers 
insisted  upon  plundering  his  silver  plate,  and  crowned 


290  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

their  success  the  next  day  by  a  second  attack  upon  the 
Drake,  which  they  captured  after  an  hour's  contest. 
The  alarm  was  universal,  and  the  importance  of  the 
episode  was  magnified  by  the  friends  and  foes  of  Great 
Britain.  England  was  soon  studded  with  militia  camps, 
and  Stanhope  threw  himself  with  avidity  into  his  occu- 
pation. When  Parliament  rose  early  in  June  of  that 
year,  members  instead  of  retiring  to  the  country  seats 
went  with  their  regiments  to  join  in  mimic  warfare. 
There  were  camps  at  Salisbury,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
at  Cox  Heath  in  Kent,  at  Warly  Common,  in  Essex  and 
at  Winchester.  "  Camps  everywhere  "  writes  Walpole, 
"and  the  ladies  in  the  uniform  of  their  husbands. — 
All  the  world  are  politicians  or  soldiers  or  both,  servants 
are  learning  to  fire,  all  day  long."  Yet  these  gatherings 
were  scenes  of  festivity  and  fun  as  well  as  of  hard  soldier- 
ing, places  not  only  for  military  maneuvres  and  manual 
exercise,  but  for  fashionable  picnics  and  flirtations;  the 
most  noted  men  of  the  day  made  a  point  of  visiting 
them,  and  becoming  spectators  of  the  new  amusement, 
which  had  for  its  basis  a  commendable  object.  Lord 
Palmerston,  Garrick,  Dr  Johnson  and  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds, were  among  those  who  witnessed  the  operations 
at  Warly  Common,  and  the  Doctor,  as  he  watched 
the  regimental  maneuvres  or  went  visiting  round 
amongst  the  men  in  command,  made  it  his  aim  to  learn 
all  he  could  about  Military  duty  and  drill.  "The  Cox 
Heath  men,"  he  wrote,  facetiously  to  the  commander 
of  the  Lincolnshire  regiment,  "I  think  have  reason  to 
complain,  for  Reynolds  says  your  camp  is  better  than 
theirs."  Finally  a  Royal  progress  round  the  camps 
took  place,  which  began  in  Winchester,  where  the  King 
visited  the  troops  on  September  29th.  The  military 
fervor  of  that  age  was  not  merely  a  pose,  born  without 
cause  and  fated  to  die  without  fruits.  Its  effect  upon 
the  betterment  of  a  permanent  volunteer  force  has  ex- 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  291 

tended  to  our  own  times,  while  its  necessity  at  the  date 
which  witnessed  its  rise,  may  be  inferred  from  the  course 
of  events. 


Jones  was,  in  fact,  the  most  formidable  enemy  which 
England  then  possessed  upon  the  sea,  through  his 
knowledge  of  their  coasts,  his  remarkable  foresight,  and 
his  unequalled  fighting  qualities.  Secure  in  the  quiet 
of  their  country  homes,  with  pride  excited  by  the  recent 
and  world-wide  extension  of  their  dominions,  safe  in  the 
consciousness  of  their  undisputed  command  upon  the 
sea,  the  revolt  of  the  American  colonies  was  a  matter 
which  had  very  little  disturbed  the  people  at  large,  and 
was  considered  as  a  futile  rebellion  of  a  contemptible 
and  cowardly  lot  of  yokels  easily  to  be  subdued  by 
Hessian  mercenaries,  or,  if  necessary,  by  the  scalping- 
knife  of  the  Indian.  The  venial  subserviency  and  in- 
capacity of  a  ministry  controlled  by  the  obstinacy  of  a 
slow-witted  king  prevailed  over  the  wiser  counsellors  of 
the  nation.  The  solemn  laments  of  the  dying  Chatham 
lamenting  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire  he  had 
helped  to  extend,  the  fiery  denunciations  of  Burke  and 
Fox,  were  drowned  in  choruses  of  indecent  raillery  from 
the  benches  of  Westminster,  and  the  sarcastic  prophecies 
of  Walpole,  crying  out  in  warning  from  Strawberry  Hill, 
were  unheeded  by  a  people  who,  until  the  advent  of 
Paul  Jones,  had  been  slumbering  in  peace.  With  a 
terror  which  curiously  finds  its  counterpart  in  later 
times,  the  very  idea  that  the  "Englishman's  home" 
could  be  invaded  now  cast  the  whole  island  into  un- 
reasoning and  hysterical  panic;    It  was  all  very  well 


292  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

that  armies  should  be  sent  across  the  seas  to  fight  the 
rebellious  colonies,  but  when  the  shipping  in  their  un- 
protected ports  could  be  set  on  fire,  their  battle-ships 
taken  in  home  waters,  and  English  peers  be  in  danger 
of  capture  in  their  sacred  homes,  it  was  a  very  different 
matter.  Chap-books  depicted  Paul  Jones  as  a  buccaneer, 
armed  to  the  teeth,  in  highly  colored  pictures,  bloody 
and  terrifying.  Mothers  frightened  their  children  with 
the  bare  mention  of  his  name.  From  this  time  on  he 
was  celebrated  in  popular  song,  and  took  his  place 
with  Captain  Kidd  in  the  histories  of  the  pirate  kings. 
There  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact  that  Jones  should 
have  been  dubbed  a  rebel  in  the  days  when  the  revolted 
Americans  were  all  considered  felons,  and  traitors  to 
the  mother  country.1 

The  correctness  of  these  titles  was  an  issue  which  all 
the  colonists  were  discussing  with  the  uncertain  argu- 
ments of  war.  Had  the  outcome  been  otherwise,  Paul 
Jones  might  have  been  hanged  as  a  rebel  and  a  like  fate 

1  An  amusing  incident  concerning  a  gale  of  wind  which  drove  him  on 
one  occasion  away  from  the  Scottish  coasts,  is  quoted  by  Sherburne 
from  a  contemporary  book  by  a  Mr.  Henderson. 

"About  the  time  that  Jones  visited  Whitehaven,  he  went  round  to  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  and  made  his  appearance  off  the  harbor  of  Kirkaldy,  a 
noted  small  town  on  the  borders  of  Fifeshire,  (called  by  the  Scotch 
'Langtoun  o'  Kirkaldy/  owing  to  its  length).  No  other  enemy,  how- 
ever formidable,  could  have  created  in  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants 
such  consternation  and  alarm  as  that  which  then  approached.  Paul 
Jones  was  the  dread  of  all,  young  and  old,  &  (pamphlets  of  his  depre- 
dations were  as  common  in  every  house  as  almanacs).  He  was  looked 
upon  as  a  sea-monster,  that  swallowed  up  all  that  came  in  his  power. 
The  people  all  flocked  to  the  shore  to  watch  his  movements,  expecting 
the  worse  consequences.  There  was  an  old  Presbyterian  Minister  in 
the  place,  a  very  pious  and  good  old  man,  but  of  a  most  singular  and 
eccentric  turn,  especially  in  addressing  the  Deity,  to  whom  he  would 
speak  with  as  much  familiarity  as  he  would  to  an  old  farmer,  and  seem- 
ingly without  respect,  as  will  appear  from  the  following.     He  was  soon 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  293 

might  have  befallen  those  great  leaders  whose  names 
have  been  revered  through  more  than  a  century  of 
glorious  independence.  He  was,  however,  particularly 
well  qualified,  in  the  eyes  of  the  British,  to  bear  the  added 
title  of  "  pirate. ' '  He  commanded  a  vessel  disguised  as  a 
merchantman;  he  made  sudden  and  stealthy  midnight 
descents  upon  their  vessels  and  their  ports;  his  method 
of  warfare,  brilliantly  skilful  as  it  was,  had  a  coolness 
and  a  daring  unexpectedness  which  recalled  the  legends 
of  the  early  Vikings,  a  method  which  clothed  his  name 
with  the  immortal  halo  of  romance  but  brought  upon 
him  the  bitter  hatred  of  his  native  land.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  matter  surprising,  in  any  nature  but  the  English, 
that  a  people  forced  in  a  few  brief  years  to  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  the  United  States  should  even  now 
ignore  the  commissioned  authority  of  Jones,  who  was 
at  the  very  time  that  he  made  his  first  descent  upon 
the  English  coasts  the  very  first  accredited  standard- 
bearer  of  our  flag  in  Europe>  which,  through  him,  re- 
seen  making  his  way  through  the  people  with  an  old  black  oak  arm- 
chair which  he  lugged  down  to  the  low-water  mark  (the  tide  flowing) 
and  sat  down  in  it.  Almost  out  of  breath,  and  rather  in  a  passion,  he 
then  began  to  address  the  Deity  in  the  following  singular  way: — 

"  'Now  deed  Lord,  dinna  ye  think  it's  a  shame  for  ye  to  send  this  vile 
pireet  to  rub  out  folk  o'  Kirkaldy;  for  ye  ken  they're  a'  puir  enough 
already,  and  hae  naething  to  spare.  They  are  a'  gaily  gaid,  and  it  wad 
be  a  peety  to  serve  them  in  sic  in  a  wa.  The  wa  the  wun  blaws,  he'll 
be  here  in  a  jiffie,  and  wha  kens  what  he  may  do.  He's  nain  too  guid 
for  anything.  Meickle's  the  mischief  he  has  dune  already.  Ony 
packet  gear  they  hae  gathered  thegither  he  will  gang  wi'  the  heal  o't; 
and  burn  their  hooses,  tak  their  vary  claes  and  tirl  them  to  the  sark; 
and  waes  me!  wha  kens  but  the  bluidy  villain  might  tak  their  lives. 
The  puir  weemen  ere  maist  freightened  out  o'  their  wuts,  and  the  bairns 
skirling  after  them.  I  canna'  tho'lt!  I  hae  been  lang  a  faithfu'  ser- 
vant to  ye,  Laird;  but  gin  ye  dinna  turn  the  wun  about,  and  blaw  the 
scoundrel  out  of  the  gate,  I'll  na  stur  a  fit,  but  will  just  sit  here,  until 
the  tide  comes  and  drowns  me.    Sae  tak  yere  wull  o't.' " 


294  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ceived  its  first  salute  from  French  admirals  in  the  open 
ports  of  France.  The  honors  he  subsequently  received 
from  the  courts  of  Russia,  France,  and  Denmark  have 
likewise  been  persistently  ignored  in  England,  and  in 
these  later  days,  in  spite  of  the  recent  and  much-her- 
alded recovery  of  his  honored  remains  by  the  grateful 
country  he  helped  to  free,  the  old  obloquy  still  clouds 
his  name. 

Paul  Jones  has  not  unnaturally  been  censured  for 
the  choice  of  the  familiar  localities  of  his  childhood  for 
his  retaliatory  attacks.  In  the  excellent  biography  by 
Captain  A.  S.  McKenzie,  of  the  United  States  navy, 
published  in  1848,  the  author  gives  expression  to  this 
hostile  opinion. 

Few  naval  enterprises  exhibit  a  character  of  greater 
daring  and  originality  than  the  descent  upon  White- 
haven, the  hardihood  with  which  it  was  conceived  and 
the  imperturbable  coolness  with  which  it  was  executed. 
As  to  the  propriety  of  attempting  to  destroy  such  an 
amount  of  private  property,  it  was  amply  justified,  as 
it  was  provoked  and  occasioned  by  the  burning  and 
devastations  of  the  British  on  our  own  coasts.  Still 
the  author  cannot  coincide  with  such  of  his  country- 
men as  have  commended  Jones  for  volunteering  to  be 
the  agent  of  this  retribution.  The  scheme  was  wholly 
his  own.  He  selected  the  scene,  choosing  for  the  pur- 
pose the  familiar  haunts  of  his  boyhood.  Had  he  suc- 
ceeded in  his  wish  of  destroying  the  whole  shipping  in 
the  port  of  Whitehaven,  out  of  which  he  had  so  long 
sailed,  he  must  have  involved  shipmates,  employers, 
and  benefactors  in  one  common  ruin.  It  has  been 
said  that  Paul  Jones  alone,  on  account  of  his  familiarity 
with  the  localities,  could  have  attempted  this  project 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE  295 

with  success — if  so,  it  had  better  been  omitted  alto- 
gether. 

In  answer  to  this  critical  comment  it  is  interesting  to 
quote  the  very  able  defence  of  Paul  Jones  written  by 
his  niece,  Miss  Taylor,  during  her  visit  to  America,  in 
1848,  which  exists  in  her  own  handwriting  in  a  collec- 
tion of  manuscripts  in  the  Harvard  Library,  prepared 
by  Jared  Sparks,  for  a  life  of  her  celebrated  uncle: 

The  connection  of  Paul  Jones  with  America,  com- 
mences with  his  thirteenth  year  and  from  that  period 
until  his  descent  upon  Whitehaven,  he  had  never  resided 
for  five  consecutive  years,  in  any  port  of  the  world, 
America  excepted.  He  had  at  the  time,  no  mother, 
sister  or  relation  of  any  denomination  whatsoever  in 
either  Whitehaven  or  its  neighborhood;  the  hand  of 
death  had  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  his  wholesale 
desolation  both  his  employers  and  almost  every  person 
belonging  to  the  place,  with  whom  he  had  ever  had  any 
intercourse.  If  Paul  Jones  can  be  justified  in  taking 
up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  revolted  Colonies,  he  may  also 
be  justified  for  his  descent  upon  Whitehaven.  If  he 
cannot  be  the  former,  what  apology  is  to  be  offered  for 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  who 
were  Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  Irishmen,  and  Welshmen 
by  birth? 

There  are  many  indications  that  Jones  was  mindful 
of  the  peculiar  position  he  occupied  in  commanding 
and  directing  these  cruises  in  his  home  seas.  No 
instance  of  brutality  or  vindictiveness  in  his  conduct 
is  discernible;  there  were  no  wanton  acts  of  destruction; 
there  was  no  unnecessary  bloodshed,  but  a  gallant 


296  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

punctiliousness  in  the  observation  of  all  the  rules  and 
ceremonies  of  honorable  warfare,  strangely  in  contrast 
with  the  customs  of  the  English  and  their  hirelings  in 
America.  He  comments  with  the  most  evident  satis- 
faction upon  the  facts  that  the  sentinels  in  the  White- 
haven ports  were  captured  "  unharmed/ '  and  that  he 
never  killed  or  injured  any  single  person  during  the 
attack. 

If  he  realized,  as  he  must  have  done,  that  his  at- 
tack upon  the  English  coasts  would  bring  upon  him 
a  peculiar  execration,  and  stain  eternally  the  fame  he 
held  so  dear;  if  he  believed  that  his  peculiar  familiarity 
with  these  coasts  pre-eminently  fitted  him,  and  him 
alone,  to  conduct  these  attacks,  the  sacrifice  of  his 
personal  feelings  must  be  considered  an  admirable  act 
of  loyalty  to  the  country  which  he  served.  The  bitter 
recollections  of  the  injustice  and  jealous  undervalua- 
tions which  had  been  his  lot,  in  common  with  other 
prophets,  in  his  own  country,  may  naturally  have 
tempered  his  reluctance  to  appear  as  the  triumphant 
avenger  of  its  injustice,  and  he  was  also  inspired  by  that 
burning  desire  for  fame  which  his  most  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirer cannot  fail  to  recognize  as  the  ruling  motive  of 
his  character.  His  conviction  of  the  justice  of  the  cause 
he  had  embraced,  the  cause  of  liberty  and  of  human 
nature,  which  had  been  adopted  by  the  new  thought  of 
a  changing  world,  was  equally  ardent  and  openly 
avowed. 

In  this  first  of  his  two  glorious  cruises  against  the 
British  coast  he  succeeded,  in  spite  of  the  reluctance  of 
his  mutinous  crew,  in  accomplishing  the  two  principal 


THE  "RANGER"  CRUISE 


297 


objects  of  his  daring  purpose:  he  terrified  the  too  con- 
fident enemy  into  a  recognition  that  their  own  coasts 
could  be  attacked  and  their  invulnerable  battle-ships 
could  be  captured;  and,  above  all,  he  brought  about 
the  exchange  of  American  captives,  hitherto  treated  as 
felons  and  rebels,  on  equal  terms  with  English  seamen 
as  prisoners  of  war,  and  thus  forced  what  was  in  fact 
England's  first  recognition  of  the  existence  of  America 
as  an  independent  power. 

The  capture  of  the  Drake  was  unprecedented,  almost 
incredible,  at  that  time  of  England's  unquestioned  mar- 
itime supremacy,  and  added  the  crowning  glory  to  a 
cruise  which  for  cool  audacity  and  brilliant  initiative 
has  never  been  surpassed  in  naval  history. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  SELKIRK  RAID 

Singular  as  the  celebrated  descent  upon  Lord  Sel- 
kirk's estate  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle  has  always  been  con- 
sidered by  the  biographers  of  Paul  Jones,  its  actual 
significance  has  never  been  fully  appreciated. 

When,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  evidence 
which  has  been  preserved  in  his  own  writings  and 
in  other  contemporary  documents,  the  conclusion  be- 
comes inevitable  that  Paul  Jones  believed  up  to  the 
time  of  his  attack  upon  Saint  Mary's  Isle  that  he  was 
the  unacknowledged  son  of  Lord  Selkirk,  his  deter- 
mination to  carry  him  off  as  a  hostage  assumes  the 
character  of  a  conception  which  might  easily  find  its 
place  in  melodrama.  The  earliest  testimony  which 
bears  upon  this,  the  most  questionable  of  all  Jones's 
actions,  is  found  in  the  narrative  of  Thomas  Chase, 
wherein  it  is  stated  with  categorical  emphasis  that  Paul 
Jones,  during  his  conversations  with  Chase,  had  ex- 
pressed his  belief  that  he  was  the  son  of  Lord  Selkirk 
and  stated  that  his  earliest  recollections  were  of  Saint 
Mary's  Isle.  He  admitted  also,  according  to  the  Chase 
narrative,  that  he  was  continually  taunted  with  his 
illegitimate  birth,  and  asserted  this  to  have  been  the 
principal  cause  of  his  early  departure  from  Scotland.1 

1  Colonel  Wharton  Green  repeats  these  facts  as  reported  by  Major 
Knox,  who  was  a  guest  at  "The  Grove."  Major  Knox  was  also  au- 
thority for  Jones's  statement  that  he  had  assumed  the  name  of  Jones 
because  he  had  none  of  his  own. 

298 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  299 

Rumors  orally  transmitted  by  those  in  intimate 
association  with  Jones  during  his  sojourn  at  "The 
Grove,"  in  North  Carolina,  in  the  year  1774,  repeat 
these  statements,  and,  as  far  as  such  traditions  can  be 
accepted  as  historical  evidence,  tend  to  confirm  the 
truth  of  Thomas  Chase's  narrative. 

The  most  significant  testimony,  however,  exists  in 
the  remarkable  letter  to  Benjamin  Franklin  of  March 
6, 1779,  wherein  Jones  used  the  following  extraordinary 
phrases  in  reference  to  Lord  Selkirk  and  his  refusal  to 
accept  the  return  of  the  plate  which  was  taken  by 
Jones's  men  from  his  house.  "It  has  not  been  my  in- 
tention to  attract  his  notice  either  by  my  history  or 
otherwise, — if  however,  his  delicacy  will  not  suffer 
him,  to  receive  what  he  thinks  an  obligation  from  me 
it  will  be  no  difficult  matter  to  point  out  to  him,  if 
he  should  be  at  a  loss,  how  to  discharge  that  obliga- 
tion." 

Taken  in  conjunction  with  the  fact  that  these  phrases 
are  found  in  a  letter  of  the  most  private  and  confidential 
character,  wherein  Jones  not  only  makes  his  full  state- 
ment of  the  killing  of  the  mutineer,  but  refers  to  other 
obscure  incidents  in  his  career — as  if  to  his  father  con- 
fessor— the  curious  remark  that  it  had  not  been  his 
intention  to  attract  Lord  Selkirk9 s  notice  by  his  history  or 
otherwise  cannot  be  overlooked. 

In  the  total  absence  of  any  other  circumstances 
which  might  assign  another  significance  to  these  pecul- 
iar expressions,  the  statements  in  Chase's  narrative 
supply  the  only  available  and  highly  probable  reasons 
which  prompted  Jones  to  use  them. 


300  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  connection  with  the  above  mutually  confirmatory 
evidence,  a  letter  from  William  Birnie,  a  Scotchman 
now  resident  in  New  York  City,  demands  considera- 
tion.1 William  Birnie  is  the  great-grandson  of  George 
Paul,  the  gardener  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle  and  brother  of 
Paul  Jones's  reputed  father,  John  Paul,  of  Arbigland. 
BirmVs  reference  to  the  latter  indicates  a  suspicion 
that  the  latter  was  not  Jones's  father,  and  he  also  ad- 
mits his  knowledge  of  a  well-defined  rumor  of  Jones's 
connection  with  the  Selkirk  family.  When  questioned 
on  the  subject  his  mother  admitted  that  she  knew  some- 
thing in  regard  to  the  birth  of  John  Paul  Jones  which 
she  might  some  time  reveal.  Mrs.  Birnie  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  George  Paul  and  spent  her  early  life  in 


1  New  York,  Mar.  8,  1908. 
Sir: 

The  other  day  when  I  told  you  that  on  my  mother's  side,  I  was  de- 
scended from  George  Paul,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  gardener,  who  accord- 
ing to  the  school  histories  when  I  went  to  school,  was  the  father  of  John 
Paul  Jones,  you  told  me  to  write  an  account  of  what  I  knew  or  had 
heard  about  the  connection.  Which  request  is  the  excuse  for  the  fol- 
lowing. 

My  mother  was  a  daughter  of  John  Paul  of  Kircudbright,  Scotland. 
What  the  exact  year  of  his  birth  was  I  do  not  know,  but  think  from  what 
my  uncle  writes  it  was  1785.  He  came  to  this  country  and  settled  in 
Charleston  S.  C.  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  last  century,  going  into 
business,  as  a  wholesale  and  retail  grocer.  When  the  war  of  1812  broke 
out,  he  organized  a  company  of  Scotchmen  for  the  defence  of  Charleston, 
and  was  their  captain  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1828  he  retired 
from  business  and  returned  to  Kircudbright  where  in  1829  he  married 
Isabella  Mc'Whinnie  of  the  same  place.  He  died  June  2,  1846  leaving 
eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters.  His  father  was  John  Paul 
a  carpenter  and  builder  of  Kircudbright,  whose  wife  was  Mary  Kerr  of 
the  same  place.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  72,  I  dont  know  the  year,  but  his  wife  who  survived  him 
died  in  1828. 

The  father  of  the  last  mentioned  John  Paul,  was  George  Paul,  the 
Earl  of  Salkirk's  gardener.     I  do  not  know  the  year  of  his  birth  or  death 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  301 

Scotland  with  her  relatives.  She  never  revealed  this 
mystery,  but  her  evidence  tends  to  confirm  Chase's 
statement  that  the  stigma  of  illegitimacy  had  been  cast 
upon  Paul  Jones.  Further  confirmatory  evidence  in 
regard  to  the  obscurity  surrounding  his  birth  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  his  name  is  not  recorded  with  those  of 
his  sisters  in  the  Parish  register  at  Kirkbean.  This 
obscurity  is  also  augmented  by  the  written  statement 
of  the  clergyman  of  Kirkbean,  Doctor  Grierson,  re- 
porting that  Mr.  Dunbar  Hamilton  Craik,  the  grand- 
son of  Jones's  patron,  Robert  Craik,  had  informed  him 
personally  that  the  date  of  Jones's  birth  as  given  in  the 
so-called   Edinburgh  biography  was  incorrect.    Mr. 

nor  his  father's  first  name.  His  brother  John,  also  a  gardener,  is  the 
generally  accepted  father  of  Paul  Jones  to-day. 

I  cannot  recall  any  family  tradition  about  Paul  Jones,  except  that  my 
great  grandfather  on  one  occasion  ordered  him  out  of  his  house  for  being 
impolite  to  the  ladies.  The  Kircudbright  people  considered  him  a  Buc- 
caneer, and  never  mentioned  his  name  if  they  could  help  it. 

One  day  in  a  talk  with  Mother,  I  suggested  that  Paul  Jones  was  not 
a  Paul,  but  a  Douglass  (The  earl  of  Selkirk's  family  name.)  She  said 
that  he  was  not  a  Douglass  but  a  Paul,  and  that  at  some  time  she  would 
tell  me  all  that  she  had  heard  about  him.  I  have  at  different  times 
asked  my  Uncle  if  they  had  any  information  that  they  could  give  me, 
but  they  said  that  they  knew  nothing  about  him. 

When  I  was  a  boy  of  nine  we  spent  the  summer  of  1870  in  Kircud- 
bright with  an  aunt  of  Mother's,  Miss  Agnes  Paul.  Her  house  was  on 
ground  that  George  Paul  owned  and  used  as  a  nursery  after  he  left  the 
Earl's  employ.  The  house,  or  rather  the  back  of  it,  was  built  by  his 
son,  the  carpenter,  the  front  being  added  by  my  grandfather.  Two  of 
my  aunts  live  there  to-day. 

During  my  stay  in  Kircudbright  my  uncle  took  me  to  St.  Mary's 
Isle  (The  Earl's  residence)  to  see  the  silver  that  Paul  Jones  had  "stolen" 
from  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  when  he  made  his  raid  on  the  Scotch  coast. 
This  silver  was  afterward  returned  to  Lady  Selkirk  with  the  compli- 
ments of  John  Paul  Jones.  Although  the  Kircudbright  people  pretend 
to  despise  Paul  Jones,  they  are  mighty  proud  of  the  silver. 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)  Wm.  Birnie. 
To  Capt.  John  H.  Barnes. 


302  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Craik  affirmed  that  he  was  not  born  on  July  6,  1747, 
but  several  years  earlier.1 

Returning  to  the  letter  of  William  Birnie,  we  find  the 
categorical  statement  of  his  mother  that  he  was  not  a 
Douglass,  but  was  in  reality  a  Paul.  An  examination 
of  the  recorded  data  in  regard  to  the  whereabouts  and 
history  of  both  the  third  and  the  fourth  Earls  of 
Selkirk,  confirms  Mrs.  Birnie's  negation,  and  proves 
without  question  that  Paul  Jones  was  not  related  by 
blood  to  either  of  them.  The  third  Lord  Selkirk  died 
in  the  year  1744  at  Edinburgh  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-two,  having  been  resident  in  that  city  for  several 
years  prior  to  his  death.  The  fourth  Lord  Selkirk, 
whose  son  Jones  apparently  believed  himself  to  be,  was 
the  fourth  cousin  of  the  third  earl,  living  at  a  distance 
from  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  at  Baldoon,  in  another  part  of 
Scotland.  At  the  time  he  inherited  the  property  he 
was  actively  engaged  in  recruiting  royalist  soldiers  in 
the  Jacobite  Rebellion  of  1745,  and  exerted  himself 
with  the  greatest  zeal  in  animating  the  inhabitants  of 


1  Extracts  from  Dr.  Filkins's  note-book: 

"  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Reverend  Thomas  Grierson 
A.  M.  dated  Kirkbean  Manse,  Oct.  17th,  1842.— 

"  *  John  Paul,  alias  Paul  Jones  was  born  in  this  Parrish  at  Arbigland. 
His  father  was  gardener  to  Mr.  Craik,  grandfather  of  the  present  ex- 
cellent proprietor,  Douglas  Hamilton  Craik.  ...  He  was  born,  accord- 
ing to  a  printed  life  of  him  in  Mr.  Craik's  possession,  the  6th  of  July,  1747. 
Mr.  Craik  told  me  to-day  that  he  believed  he  was  born  several  years  earlier. 
He  used  to  carry  about  the  present  Laird  upon  his  back  when  he  was  a 
child.' " 

Another  statement  from  the  Naval  and  Military  Gazette  of  January  14, 
1843,  also  found  in  Doctor  Filkins's  note-books,  affirms  that  Jones  was 
born  in  the  year  1742.  Jones's  last  secretary,  Andr6,  who  published 
his  journal  of  the  American  war  in  1798,  gives  it  as  his  belief  that  Jones 
was  older  than  the  age  ordinarily  assigned  to  him. 


5^H 
<  OS 

JCQO 


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go  ~ 


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w 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  303 

Lanarkshire  and  the  western  counties  to  support  the 
government. 

After  the  end  of  the  rebellion  Lord  Selkirk  went 
abroad,  where  he  remained,  principally  in  France,  for  a 
number  of  years.  It  was  not  until  his  marriage,  which 
occurred  in  the  year  1758,  that  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence on  the  estate  of  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  which  he  had 
inherited  fourteen  years  before. 

The  only  point  contained  in  the  historical  records  of 
the  lives  of  the  third  and  fourth  Earls  of  Selkirk,  which 
bears  upon  the  presence  of  Paul  Jones  at  Saint  Mary's 
Isle,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Duke  of  Queensbury 
was  a  brother-in-law  of  the  third  earl.  This  fact  is  of 
great  importance  when  taken  in  connection  with  the 
sentence  in  Jones's  letter  to  Robert  Morris  in  which  he 
refers  to  "his  former  intimacy  with  British  Naval 
Officers  of  note."  This  sentence  points  unquestion- 
ably to  his  service  in  the  royal  navy,  and  furnishes  in- 
controvertible confirmatory  evidence  of  his  own  later 
statements  as  reported  in  the  letter  of  his  fellow-lodger, 
quoted  in  Chapter  I,  that  he  received  his  appointment 
at  the  hands  of  Lord  Selkirk's  brother-in-law,  the  Duke 
of  Queensbury,  and  that  he  was  seen  by  the  duke  at 
Saint  Mary's  Isle. 

The  fact  being  established  that  he  was  not  the 
son  of  either  the  third  or  the  fourth  Earl  of  Selkirk, 
and  as  it  is  also  certain  that  he  was  actually  pres- 
ent at  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  it  is  necessary  to  come  to 
some  conclusion  as  to  the  reasons  which  caused  Paul 
Jones's  belief  in  a  relationship  with  the  Selkirk  family, 
and  the  facts  which  gave  color  to  such  an  assump- 


304  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

tion.  The  statement  of  Jones's  fellow-lodger,  printed 
by  the  reviewer  of  Sherburne's  biography,  that  Jones 
had  told  him  that  he  was  the  son  of  Lord  Selkirk's 
gardener,  coupled  with  the  knowledge  of  George 
Paul's  descendants  that  although  of  doubtful  pater- 
nity Jones  was  a  Paul,  would  point  to  the  identifica- 
tion of  George  Paul,  gardener  of  Lord  Selkirk,  as  the 
actual  father  of  Paul  Jones.  This  hypothesis,  although 
impossible  of  confirmation,  furnishes  a  reasonable  ex- 
planation of  Jones's  presence  during  his  early  child- 
hood at  Saint  Mary's  Isle,  particularly  in  view  of  the 
emphatic  statement  of  the  reviewer  of  Sherburne's 
biography,  that  the  testimony  of  Jones's  fellow-lodger 
was  to  be  relied  upon.  Assuming  that  the  testimony 
of  Mr.  Craik  is  correct,  and  that  Jones  was  born 
several  years  earlier  than  the  generally  accepted  date, 
he  was  probably  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle  as  early  as  1744 
or  1745.  There  he  was  brought  up  in  ignorance  of 
his  real  paternity,  although  constantly  taunted  by  his 
supposed  illegitimacy,  and  there  he  was  seen  and 
favorably  noticed  by  the  Duke  of  Queensbury. 

According  to  the  accounts  contained  in  both  the 
biographies  written  in  association  with  Jones's  rela- 
tives, he  was  apprenticed  at  the  early  age  of  twelve  to 
Mr.  Younger  and  sent  off  to  America  in  the  year  1759. 
If,  however,  he  was  born  several  years  before  1747,  he 
would  have  been  fourteen  or  a  little  older  at  the  time 
of  his  first  sea  service. 

After  the  failure  of  Mr.  Younger,  Paul  Jones  was 
thrown  out  of  employment  and,  as  related  in  Chap- 
ter I,  applied  to  the  Duke  of  Queensbury  for  assist- 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  305 

ance,  relying  upon  his  early  acquaintance  with  him 
and  the  marked  interest  which  the  duke  had  mani- 
fested. He  was  not  disappointed  in  this  hope  of 
assistance,  and,  having  been  recommended  to  a  com- 
mander in  the  navy,  received  his  appointment  and 
entered  the  service.  Deciding  to  abandon  it  on  ac- 
count of  lack  of  opportunity  for  quick  advancement,  he 
immediately  procured  his  first  independent  place  on 
board  the  slaver  King  George,  in  the  year  1766.  It  is 
evident  from  these  facts  that  the  young  John  Paul  was 
rarely  in  Scotland  from  the  date  of  his  first  departure 
with  Mr.  Younger  for  America. 

Whatever  his  feeling  might  have  been  toward  his 
putative  father,  it  is  remarkable  that  no  reference 
whatever  exists  in  any  of  his  letters  in  regard  to  the 
elder  John  Paul,  while  his  letters  and  references  to  his 
mother  and  sisters  are  many  and  affectionate. 

The  honored  and  universally  respected  gardener, 
while  loyal  to  his  wife,  who  was  apparently  beloved  by 
all  her  family,  was  evidently  unwilling  to  countenance 
the  presence  of  the  boy,  who  at  the  earliest  possible  age 
was  apprenticed  to  the  captain  of  a  trading-vessel  and 
sent  off  for  long  voyages  and  sojourns  across  the  sea. 

Bitterly  conscious  of  his  supposed  illegitimacy,  the  boy 
must  have  brooded  during  the  long  hours  of  his  exile 
over  the  mystery,  attempting  to  solve  it  in  the  light  of 
the  only  facts  of  which  he  was  possessed,  his  early  pres- 
ence at  Saint  Mary's  Isle  and  the  protection  of  the  Duke 
of  Queensbury.  He  knew  that  he  could  not  refer  his 
paternity  to  the  octogenarian,  the  third  Earl  of  Sel- 
kirk, but  his  infant  recollections  were  wholly  devoid  of 


306  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

any  facts  which  would  disprove  a  relationship  with  the 
fourth  earl,  the  young  Dunbar  Hamilton,  who  in- 
herited the  estate  in  1744.  The  fact  that  he  was  not 
permitted  to  return  to  Saint  Mary's  Isle  after  the  Lord 
Selkirk  of  his  day  had  come  with  his  young  wife  to  live 
on  the  estate,  might  easily  have  added  substance  to 
Jones's  fancy,  and  have  confirmed  his  belief  that  he 
was  the  earl's  child,  originally  harbored  at  his  home, 
provided  with  the  advantageous  position  in  the  navy, 
and  subsequently  sent  back,  in  fear  of  discovery  of  his 
birth,  to  the  humble  cottage  at  Arbigland.  These  were 
the  facts  on  which  John  Paul  dwelt  with  bitterness 
during  the  years  of  his  service  in  the  navy,  when  his 
obscure  birth  seemed  the  sole  cause  of  his  failure  to 
advance  with  the  rapidity  demanded  by  his  impatient 
and  ardent  nature.  As  he  grew  older  and  became  con- 
scious of  his  extraordinary  mental  powers,  the  ambitious 
lad  tenaciously  clung  to  the  supposition  that  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Duke  of  Queensbury,  accorded  to  him  in 
so  unusual  a  manner,  must  argue  an  obligation  on  the 
part  of  the  family  with  which  the  duke  was  connected. 
An  illegitimate  son  of  his  mother's  patron,  Mr. 
Craik  had  been  acknowledged  and  protected  by  his 
father,  and  the  young  John  Paul  bitterly  resented  that 
the  protection  which  he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
Selkirk  family  should  not  be  accompanied  by  an  open 
acknowledgment  of  the  supposed  relationship.  This 
suspicion,  fostered  by  imagination  and  uncorrected  by 
any  facts  at  his  command,  during  the  long  years  of  his 
absence  from  Scotland  grew  into  a  belief.  This  belief 
finally  became  so  strong  that  he  spoke  freely  of  it  to 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  307 

Thomas  Chase  and  to  his  friends  in  North  Carolina, 
and  at  last  hinted  it  in  words  of  unmistakable  signifi- 
cance in  his  letter  to  Benjamin  Franklin.1 

Having  now  recapitulated  the  facts  which  pertained 
to  Jones's  belief  in  his  relationship  to  the  Selkirk  family, 
the  thoughts  which  animated  him  on  the  morning  of  his 
descent  upon  Saint  Mary's  Isle  may  be  clearly  imagined. 
The  same  spirit  of  bravado  and  the  burning  determi- 
nation to  announce  his  new  position  and  importance, 
which  had  filled  his  mind  as  he  stood  with  his  pointed 
pistol  on  the  pier  defying  the  wonder-stricken  inhabi- 
tants of  Whitehaven,  now  drove  him,  beyond  his  better 
judgment,  to  enter  the  very  gates  of  his  one-time  abode, 
and  to  show  his  power  to  the  man  whom  he  believed 
to  be  his  father. 

The  reasons  which  he  consistently  maintained  had 
actuated  him  in  his  purpose  to  carry  off  Lord  Selkirk 
as  a  hostage  and  thus  effect  the  deliverance  of  the 
American  prisoners,  although  undoubtedly  a  part  of 
his  plan,  thus  assume  a  minor  importance.  Lord  Sel- 
kirk, as  he  afterward  averred  in  a  letter  to  Jones,  was 
in  no  way  connected  with  the  government  of  England, 
and  could  at  no  time  or  for  any  reason  have  been  so 
important  to  the  King  or  his  ministers  as  to  have 
effected  an  exchange  of  the  many  hundreds  of  Ameri- 
can prisoners  still  in  captivity  in  England. 

1  An  example  of  the  exceedingly  wide-spread  report  that  Paul  Jones 
was  actually  the  son  of  Lord  Selkirk's  gardener,  George  Paul,  which 
appeared  in  numberless  contemporary  journals,  is  found  in  a  number 
of  a  magazine  entitled  Weekly  Entertainer  and  West  of  England  Mis- 
cellany: "Paul  Jones,  born  and  bred  on  the  estate  of  Lord  Selkirk  near 
Kircudbright,  his  father  by  name  Paul,  a  steady  methodist  Scotch- 
man, being  head  gardener  to  the  Earl." 


308  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  a  high  mood  of  exultation  over  his  surprise  of  the 
port  of  Whitehaven,  which  had  been  accomplished  with 
impunity  a  few  hours  before,  Paul  Jones  sailed  up  to 
the  entrance  of  Kirkcudbright  Bay  and,  marking  the 
hour  of  full  tide,  to  enable  him  to  withdraw  in  safety, 
went  off  in  a  boat  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  his  men 
and  landed  at  the  foot  of  the  gardens  of  Saint  Mary's 
Isle.  There  he  himself  waited,  walking  back  and  forth 
under  the  familiar  trees.  He  was  at  once  informed  of 
Lord  Selkirk's  absence  and  would  immediately  have 
retired,  but  his  men,  wholly  ignorant  as  they  were  of 
the  real  purpose  and  significance  of  his  intentions,  in- 
sisted on  raiding  the  house  and  demanding  the  plate, 
according  to  the  practice  followed  by  English  soldiers 
in  America.  They  were  led  by  Lieutenant  Simpson  and 
second  Lieutenant  Wallingsford,  and,  according  to  Lady 
Selkirk's  account,  behaved  with  perfect  civility.  It 
was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  family  had  just 
finished  breakfast.  Descending  to  the  parlor,  Lady 
Selkirk  addressed  Lieutenant  Simpson  in  the  character 
of  the  leader  of  a  press  gang,  which  she  had  been  in- 
formed had  invaded  her  property.  Simpson  immedi- 
ately undeceived  her,  and  on  his  assertion  that  he  was 
an  officer  of  an  American  ship  of  war,  and  that  it  was 
his  purpose  to  take  possession  of  the  plate,  she  very 
scrupulously  collected  all  that  the  house  contained  and 
delivered  it  to  the  officer.  The  accompanying  letter  of 
the  countess  to  her  husband,  one  of  several  of  which 
she  wrote  to  Lord  Selkirk  and  her  sister,  gives  a  naive 
picture  of  the  scene  and  a  sympathetic  impression  of 
her  character: 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  309 

St.  Mary's  Isle,  April  2tth,  1778. 
The  history  of  the  invasion  of  the  Americans  not 
being  very  cleverly  specified  perhaps  in  yesterday's 
letters,  I  propose  to  give  you  a  better  account  to-day, 
and  by  a  letter  I  expect  to-night  shall  judge  where  to 
send  it.  My  dear  Love,  I  cannot  tell  if  you  have  heard 
of  this  matter  or  not,  but  you  may  read  on  without 
alarm,  as  you  must  judge  by  the  beginning  we  are  all 
well  and  at  ease.  On  Wednesday  morning  Mrs.  Wood 
and  her  daughters  came  here.  On  Thursday  just  after 
breakfast  Daniel  told  me  a  press  gang  was  in  the  Isle, 
and  several  of  the  gardeners  had  run  from  their  work, 
I  could  not  help  it,  a  few  minutes  after  they  surrounded 
the  house,  the  Commanding  Officer  desired  to  speak  to 
me.  I  went  down  to  the  Parlor,  Miss  Elliott  asked  to 
go  with  me.  I  began  to  say  something  to  him  in  the 
light  I  looked  upon  him.  "Madam,"  said  he,  "we 
meant  so  to  deceive  you,  but  it  is  needless  any  longer, 
we  belong  to  a  frigate  belonging  to  the  States  of  Amer- 
ica, our  business  was  with  the  Lord  of  the  House,  to 
take  him  on  board  our  prisoner,  as  he  is  absent  our  next 
orders  are  to  demand  all  your  plate,  produce  it  directly, 
we  are  masters  of  this  house  and  everything  in  it,  it  is 
needless  to  resist."  "I  am  very  sensible  of  that"  said 
I, — called  Daniel,  told  him  what  was  wanted,  ordered 
him  to  get  it,  and  followed  him  to  the  pantry.  Whether 
what  I  did  after  was  right  or  wrong  you  must  deter- 
mine, I  found  Daniel  filling  one  of  the  maid's  aprons 
with  whatever  he  could  lift  first  to  hide  it,  I  made  him 
lay  it  down  again,  resolving  not  to  dispute  or  deny  it 
to  them,  by  which  means  they  very  deliberately  called 
for  sacks,  put  everything  up,  they  now  called,  "Then 
where  is  the  teapot  and  coffee  pot?"  I  made  them 
also  be  produced,  they  still  insisted  there  was  more.  I 
assured  them  there  was  no  more  to  the  best  of  my 
knowledge,  so  they  took  up  their  booty,  he  next  said 


310  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

he  had  orders  to  walk  through  the  house,  he  did  so, 
but  took  nothing.  Upon  the  whole,  I  must  say  they 
behaved  civilly,  the  men  on  the  outside  of  the  house 
were  each  armed  with  a  musket,  and  bayonet,  two 
large  pistols  and  a  hanger,  the  doors  were  open,  none 
of  them  offered  to  come  in,  nor  asked  for  anything, 
everybody  was  out  and  asking  questions,  they  said 
the  orders  given  were  to  behave  civilly  and  take  noth- 
ing but  plate.  Of  the  two  officers  one  was  a  civil 
young  man  in  a  green  uniform,  an  anchor  on  his  buttons, 
which  were  white,  he  came  to  the  house  in  a  blue  great- 
coat, he  was  but  second,  the  principal  one  was  in  blue, 
no  uniform,  and  seemed  by  nature  a  very  disagreeable, 
and  one  may  say  a  bad  man,  had  a  vile  blackguard 
look,  still  kept  civil  as  well  he  might,  but  I  should  sus- 
pect might  have  been  rough  enough  had  he  met  with 
provocation,  and  that  was  one  reason  why  I  never  left 
him,  for  the  anger  every  one  was  in  might  have  led 
them  to  say  what  was  at  all  their  tongue's  ends.  But 
if  no  accident  had  ensued,  I  now  see  some  plate  might 
have  been  saved,  by  leaving  them  to  the  servants,  for 
they  went  nowhere  below  but  the  pantry,  did  not  look 
sharp  about  there,  and  looked  alarmed  when  they  saw 
the  bewildered  crowd  at  the  door  of  it.  At  going  off 
they  said  they  belonged  to  the  Ranger  frigate,  Captain 
Paul  Jones,  Esquire,  commander.  While  they  were 
about  the  house  John  Archer  made  his  escape,  unde- 
ceived those  met  concerning  their  being  a  press  gang, 
alarmed  the  town,  too  much  indeed  as  they  thought 
they  had  fired  the  house.  Very  soon  a  great  multitude 
were  in  the  Isle,  and  some  few  arms,  but  of  no  use  to 
prevent  their  getting  off,  which  I  couldn't  regret  as 
bloodshed  might  have  followed,  and  probably  no  good 
could  have  been  done.  We  have  seen  no  more  of 
them.  It  was  immediately  known  that  this  Paul  Jones 
is  one  John  Paul,  born  at  Arbigland,  who  once  com- 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  311 

manded  a  Kirkcudbright  vessel  belonging  to  Mr.  Muir 
and  others,  a  great  villain  as  ever  was  born,  guilty  of 
many  crimes  and  several  murders  by  ill  usage,  was 
tried  and  condemned  for  one,  escaped,  and  followed  a 
piratical  life,  till  he  engaged  with  the  Americans.  He 
seems  to  delight  in  that  still,  as  robbing  a  house  was 
below  the  dignity  of  the  States  of  America.  The 
sailors  at  the  door  told,  their  Captain  was  born  at 
Berrick,  knew  my  Lord,  (whose  name  and  the  name  of 
the  place  those  in  the  house  pretended  ignorance  of) 
had  a  great  opinion  of  him,  and  for  that  reason  had 
given  orders  that  no  more  should  be  done. 

Having  refreshed  themselves  with  a  drink  of  Scotch 
whiskey,  served  by  the  reluctant  Daniel,  the  major- 
domo  of  the  castle,  the  party  of  raiders  made  a  quiet 
retreat,  and  joining  the  captain,  who  was  waiting  for 
them  on  the  shore,  returned  to  the  Ranger,  which  imme- 
diately sailed  out  of  sight. 

The  alarm  of  this  surprising  occurrence  spread  in- 
stantly to  the  adjoining  village  of  Kirkcudbright. 
Arms  were  distributed  and  an  old  gun  levelled  at  a  dis- 
tant object,  which  in  their  terror  the  villagers  took  for  a 
ship;  it  was  discovered  later  to  be  a  rock  emerging 
from  the  water,  and  the  discomfited  defenders  of  their 
patron's  home  and  property  could  only  lament  the 
waste  of  their  ammunition  and  content  themselves 
with  expressions  of  horror  and  indignation  at  the  deeds 
of  the  "rebel"  and  "marauder"  whom  they  had  known 
in  his  boyhood  and  alienated  by  unmerited  obloquy 
and  suspicion. 

The  letters  of  Lady  Selkirk  abound  in  the  hostile  and 
hearsay  rumors  in  regard  to  Jones's  early  and  unfort- 


312  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

unate  experiences  with  Mungo  Maxwell  and  the  mu- 
tineer, and  reflect  the  generally  accepted  belief  that  the 
one-time  John  Paul  was  a  very  bad  and  dangerous 
character.  The  fact  that  Jones  informed  his  men  of 
his  "acquaintance"  with  and  high  opinion  of  Lord 
Selkirk  indicates  that  his  delusion  of  a  relationship 
with  his  Lordship  was  strongly  in  his  mind  at  the  time 
he  made  his  descent  upon  the  estate.  Lady  Selkirk 
was  naturally  ignorant  either  of  any  "acquaintance" 
or  of  any  of  the  motives  which  inspired  Jones's  asser- 
tion. 

No  sooner  departed  on  the  Ranger,  which  was  on  the 
next  day  destined  to  win  its  victory  over  the  Drake, 
Paul  Jones  bitterly  regretted  his  action  in  permitting 
his  men  to  carry  off  the  plate,  and  immediately  decided 
to  return  it.  In  many  hours  of  careful  composition  he 
penned  the  following  elaborate  letter  to  the  countess, 
in  which  he  made  his  offer  to  return  her  property,  and 
attempted  in  strange  and  affected  phrases  to  explain 
himself  and  the  motives  of  his  action: 

Ranger,  Brest,  Sth  May,  1778. 
Madam: — 

It  cannot  be  too  much  lamented  that  in  the  profes- 
sion of  arms,  the  Officer  of  fine  feelings,  and  of  real  sen- 
sibility, should  be  under  the  necessity  of  winking  at  any 
action  of  persons  under  his  command,  which  his  heart 
cannot  approve.  But  the  reflection  is  doubly  severe 
when  he  finds  himself  obliged  in  appearance  to  coun- 
tenance such  Action  by  his  authority.  This  hard  case 
was  mine  when  on  the  23rd.  of  April  last  I  landed  on 
St.  Mary's  Isle.  Knowing  Lord  Selkirk's  interest  with 
his  King,  and  esteeming  as  I  do  his  private  Character, 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  313 

I  wished  to  make  him  the  happy  instrument  of  allevi- 
ating the  horrors  of  hopeless  captivity,  when  the  brave 
are  overpowered  and  made  Prisoners  of  War.  It  was 
perhaps  fortunate  for  you,  Madam,  that  he  was  from 
home,  for  it  was  my  intention  to  have  taken  him  on 
board  the  Ranger,  and  to  have  detained  him  till  thro' 
his  means,  a  general  and  fair  exchange  of  Prisoners  as 
well  in  Europe  as  in  America  had  been  effected.  When 
I  was  informed  by  some  men  whom  I  met  at  landing, 
that  his  Lordship  was  absent,  I  walked  back  to  my 
boat  determining  to  leave  the  Island;  by  the  way, 
however,  some  officers  who  were  with  me  could  not 
forbear  expressing  their  discontent,  observing  that  in 
America  no  delicacy  was  shown  by  the  English,  who 
took  away  all  sorts  of  movable  property — setting  fire 
not  only  to  towns  and  to  the  Houses  of  the  Rich,  with- 
out distinction,  but  not  even  sparing  the  wretched 
hamlets  and  Milch  cows  of  the  poor  and  helpless  at  the 
approach  of  an  inclement  winter.  That  party  had 
been  with  me  as  volunteers  the  same  morning  at 
Whitehaven,  some  complaisance  therefore  was  their 
due.  I  had  but  a  moment  to  think  how  I  might 
gratify  them,  and  at  the  same  time  do  your  Ladyship 
the  least  injury.  I  charged  the  two  officers  to  permit 
none  of  the  seamen  to  enter  the  house,  or  to  hurt  any- 
thing about  it — to  treat  you,  Madam,  with  the  utmost 
Respect — to  accept  of  the  plate  which  was  offered — and 
to  come  away  without  making  a  search  or  demanding 
anything  else.  I  am  induced  to  believe  that  I  was 
punctually  obeyed,  since  I  am  informed  that  the 
plate  which  they  brought  away  is  far  short  of  the 
inventory  which  accompanied  it.  I  have  gratified  my 
men,  and  when  the  plate  is  sold,  I  shall  become  the 
purchaser,  and  I  will  gratify  my  own  feelings  by  restor- 
ing it  to  you,  by  such  conveyance  as  you  shall  be 
pleased  to  direct.    Had  the  Earl  been  on  board  the 


314  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Ranger  the  following  Evening,  he  would  have  seen  the 
awful  Pomp  and  dreadful  Carnage  of  a  Sea  Engage- 
ment, both  affording  ample  subject  for  the  Pencil,  as 
well  as  melancholy  reflection  for  the  contemplative 
mind.  Humanity  starts  back  from  such  scenes  of 
horror,  and  cannot  but  execrate  the  vile  Promoters  of 
this  detested  War. 

For  they  t'was  they  unsheathed  the  ruthless  blade, 
And  Heaven  shall  ask  the  Havock  it  has  made. 

The  British  Ship  of  War,  Drake,  mounting  20  guns, 
with  more  than  her  full  complement  of  Officers  and 
Men,  besides  a  number  of  Volunteers,  came  out  from 
Carrickfergus,  in  order  to  attack  and  take  the  Ameri- 
can Continental  Ship  of  War,  Ranger,  of  18  guns,  and 
short  of  her  complement  of  Officers  and  Men.  The 
Ships  met,  and  the  advantage  was  disputed  with  great 
fortitude  on  each  side  for  an  Hour  and  Five  minutes, 
when  the  gallant  Commander  of  the  Drake  fell,  and 
Victory  declared  in  favor  of  the  Ranger.  The  amiable 
Lieutenant  lay  mortally  wounded,  besides  near  forty 
of  the  inferior  officers  and  crew  killed  and  wounded. 
A  melancholy  demonstration  of  the  uncertainty  of 
human  prospects,  and  of  the  sad  reverse  of  fortune 
which  an  hour  can  produce.  I  buried  them  in  a  spa- 
cious grave,  with  the  Honours  due  to  the  memory  of 
the  Brave.  Tho'  I  have  drawn  my  sword  in  the  pres- 
ent generous  struggle  for  the  Right  of  Men,  yet  I  am 
not  in  Arms  as  an  American,  nor  am  I  in  pursuit  of 
Riches.  My  fortune  is  liberal  enough,  having  no  wife 
nor  family,  and  having  lived  long  anough  to  know  that 
Riches  cannot  ensure  Happiness.  I  profess  myself  a 
citizen  of  the  world,  totally  unfettered  by  the  little 
mean  distinctions  of  Climate  or  of  Country,  which 
diminish  the  benevolence  of  the  Heart  and  set  bounds 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  315 

to  Philanthropy.  Before  this  War  began  I  had  at  an 
early  time  of  Life,  withdrawn  from  the  sea  service,  in 
favour  of  "calm  contemplation  and  poetic  ease,"  I 
have  sacrificed  not  only  my  favorite  scheme  of  Life, 
but  the  softer  affections  of  the  Heart,  and  my  prospects 
of  Domestic  Happiness,  and  I  am  ready  to  sacrifice 
Life  also  with  cheerfulness,  if  that  forfeiture  could 
restore  peace  and  goodwill  among  mankind.  As  the 
feelings  of  your  gentle  bosom  cannot  but  be  congenial 
with  mine,  let  me  entreat  you,  Madam,  to  use  your 
soft  persuasive  Arts  with  your  Husband,  to  endeavor 
to  stop  this  cruel  and  destructive  War,  in  which 
Britain  can  never  succeed.  Heaven  can  never  coun- 
tenance the  barbarous  and  unmanly  Practices  of  the 
Britons  in  America,  which  Savages  would  blush  at,  and 
which  if  not  discontinued  will  soon  be  retaliated  in 
Britain  by  a  justly  enraged  people.  Should  you  fail 
in  this,  (and  I  am  persuaded  you  will  attempt  it,  and 
who  can  resist  the  power  of  such  an  Advocate?)  your 
endeavors  to  effect  a  general  Exchange  of  Prisoners, 
will  be  an  Act  of  Humanity,  which  will  afford  you 
Golden  Feeling  on  a  Death  bed.  I  hope  this  cruel 
contest  will  soon  be  closed,  but  should  it  continue,  I 
wage  no  War  with  the  Fair,  I  acknowledge  their  Power, 
and  bend  before  it  with  profound  Submission,  let  not 
therefore  the  amiable  Countess  of  Selkirk  regard  me 
as  an  Enemy,  I  am  ambitious  of  her  esteem  and  Friend- 
ship, and  would  do  anything  consistent  with  my  duty 
to  merit  it.  The  honor  of  a  line  from  your  hand  in 
answer  to  this  will  lay  me  under  a  very  singular  obli- 
gation, and  if  I  can  render  you  any  acceptable  service 
in  France,  or  elsewhere,  I  hope  you  see  into  my  char- 
acter so  far  as  to  command  me  without  the  least  grain 
of  reserve.  I  wish  to  know  exactly  the  behavior  of  my 
people,  as  I  determine  to  punish  them  if  they  have 
exceeded  their  Liberty. 


316  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

I  have  the  Honour  to  be  with  much  Esteem  and 
with  profound  Respect, 
Madam, 
Your  most  obedient  and  most  humble  servant, 

Paul  Jones. 

This  letter  he  posted  on  his  return  to  Brest,  and  sent 
open  for  perusal  to  the  Postmaster-General,  Lord  De- 
spencer,  with  the  request  that  it  should  be  forwarded 
at  once.  The  accompanying  correspondence,  includ- 
ing Lord  Selkirk's  letter  to  Paul  Jones  and  to  the  Post- 
master-General, with  the  latter's  reply  to  Selkirk,  give 
a  very  clear  impression  of  the  earl's  character  and  of 
his  opinion  of  the  strange  communication  of  Paul 
Jones's.  Lord  Despencer's  letter  expresses  the  gen- 
eral contemptuous  opinion  which  was  entertained  of 
Paul  Jones: 

Lord  Selkirk  to  Paul  Jones  (enclosed  to  Lord  De- 
spencer  and  returned  by  him) :  ' 

A  Monsieur, 

Monsieur  J.  P.  Jones, 

Capitaine  du  Vaisseau  Americain,  La  Ranger, 
a  Brest, 

Dumfries,  June  9th,  1778. 
Sir:— 

The  letter  you  wrote  to  Lady  Selkirk  of  the  8th  of 
May  from  Brest  and  enclosed  to  Lord  Despencer,  he 
was  so  good  as  to  forward,  and  it  came  to  hand  t'other 
day,  as  also  its  duplicate  by  common  post.  It  was 
matter  of  surprise  both  to  my  Wife  and  me,  as  no 
apology  was  expected  for  your  landing  from  your 
Privateer  at  St.  Mary's  Isle  on  the  23rd.  of  April,  but 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  317 

as  the  letter  is  polite,  and  you  seem  very  anxious  for 
an  answer,  I  shall  therefore  transmit  this  unsealed  to 
Lord  Despencer,  who,  as  I  have  the  honour  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  him,  will  I  hope  excuse  my  giving 
him  this  trouble,  and  his  Lordship,  as  Post  Master 
General  will  judge  whether  or  not  it  is  proper  to  be 
forwarded  to  you,  as  a  letter  by  common  post  would 
certainly  be  stopped  "at  the  London  Office.  Your  la- 
menting the  necessity  of  these  things  in  the  Profession 
of  Arms,  and  of  being  obliged  to  gratify  your  Officers 
by  permitting  them  to  go  to  my  house,  and  carry  off 
some  plate,  and  your  expressing  the  great  sensibility  of 
your  feelings  at  what  your  heart  cannot  approve,  are 
things  which  we,  who  have  no  knowledge  of  you,  nor  of 
your  character,  but  by  report,  can  form  no  proper  judg- 
ment of,  but  must  leave  to  your  own  Conscience,  and 
to  the  Almighty  Judge  of  the  real  motives  of  all  actions. 
You  certainly  are  in  the  right,  Sir,  in  saying  that  it  was 
fortunate  for  Lady  Selkirk  that  I  was  from  home,  as 
you  intended  to  carry  me  off  and  detain  me  prisoner, 
for  had  that  happened,  I  dread  what  might  have  been 
its  effect  upon  my  Wife,  then  well  advanced  in  her 
pregnancy.  I  own  I  do  not  understand  how  a  man  of 
Sensibility  to  fine  feelings  could  reconcile  this  to  what  his 
heart  approved,  especially  as  the  carrying  me  off  could 
have  no  possible  effect  for  the  purpose  you  mention 
which  you  say  was,  "knowing  my  interest  with  the 
King,  your  intention  was  to  detain  me,  until  through 
my  means,  a  general  and  fair  exchange  of  prisoners,  as 
well  in  Europe  as  in  America  had  been  effected." 
Now,  Sir,  nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  these 
Ideas,  for  I  have  no  interest  whatever  with  the  King, 
and  am  scarce  known  to  him,  being  very  seldom  in 
London,  scarce  six  months  in  whole,  during  these  last 
one  and  twenty  years.  With  regard  to  the  King's  Min- 
isters, I  neither  have  nor  can  have  any  interest  with 


318  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

them,  as  I  have  generally  disapproved  of  most  of  their 
measures,  and  in  particular  of  almost  their  whole  con- 
duct in  the  unhappy  and  illjudged  American  War. 
And  as  to  a  general  exchange  of  Prisoners  being  effected 
through  my  means,  I  am  altogether  at  a  loss  how  any 
man  of  sense  could  entertain  such  an  Idea.  I  am 
neither  a  Military  nor  a  Ministerial  Man.  I  neither 
have  nor  ever  had  a  Ministerial  office,  Employment  or 
Pension,  nor  any  connection  with  Administration,  nor 
am  I  in  Parliament,  and  except  having  the  disadvantage 
of  a  useless  Scotch  title,  I  am  in  all  respects  as  much  a 
Private  Country  Gentleman,  as  any  one  can  be,  living 
a  retired  life  in  the  country,  and  engaging  in  no  factions 
whatever.  How  then  would  it  have  been  possible  for 
such  a  man  to  effect  a  general  exchange  of  Prisoners? 
When  so  many  men  of  great  power  and  influence  in 
both  houses  of  Parliament  have  not  been  able  to  bring 
it  about.  You  must,  therefore,  be  sensible  on  reflec- 
tion, Sir,  that  you  have  proceeded  on  a  very  improper 
and  mistaken  notion,  and  that  had  your  attempt  suc- 
ceeded, its  only  effect  would  have  been  to  distress  a 
family  that  never  injured  any  person,  and  whose  wishes 
have  certainly  been  very  friendly  to  the  Constitutions 
and  Just  Liberties  of  America.  You  exclaim  on  the 
barbarities  committed  in  America,  and  say  they  will  be 
retalliated  in  Britain  if  not  discontinued.  I  have 
always  been  extremely  sorry  at  the  accounts  of  these 
things,  no  man  can  be  a  greater  enemy  to  all  ungenerous 
inhumanities  in  war  than  I  am.  God  knows  best  which 
side  he  began  those  things,  and  which  has  most  to  ac- 
count for,  but  it  is  certainly  the  general  opinion  in 
Britain,  that  the  American  began  the  unusual  and 
cruel  practices  complained  of,  and  first  against  their 
own  countrymen  who  adhered  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment. In  your  letter  you  profess  yourself  a  Citizen  of 
the  World,  and  that  you  have  drawn  your  sword  in 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  319 

support  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  yet  you  say  you  are  not 
in  arms  as  an  American,  nor  in  pursuit  of  Riches.  If 
you  are  not  in  arms  as  an  American,  I  do  not  under- 
stand in  what  character  you  act,  and  unless  you  have 
an  American  Commission,  I  doubt  the  laws  of  war  and 
of  nations  would  not  be  very  favorable  to  you  as  a  citi- 
zen of  the  World,  which,  however,  ought  to  be  a  very 
honorable  character,  and  you  will  do  well  to  endeavor 
to  act  up  to  the  humanity  and  honour  of  it.  Consider 
then,  Sir,  the  impropriety  and  danger  to  the  Common 
Interests,  and  happiness  of  Society,  in  your  departing 
from  the  established  and  usual  practice  of  Modern  War. 
Nothing  does  more  honour  to  Mankind,  than  the  gen- 
erous humanity  and  mildness  introduced  in  War  of  late 
ages,  through  all  the  best  civilized  parts  of  Europe,  and 
its  violation  is  always  disapproved  of  and  generally  re- 
sented by  the  Ministers  of  every  State.  I  am  there- 
fore persuaded  that  neither  the  French  Government 
nor  the  Congress,  would  have  countenanced  your 
carrying  me  off,  nor  would  have  permitted  me  to  be  de- 
tained. Their  own  coasts  are  as  much  exposed  to  such 
enterprises  as  ours,  and  they  will  not  wish  to  introduce 
such  things  into  the  practice  of  war,  as  can  have  no 
effect  upon  the  great  and  general  operations  of  it,  but 
would  only  add  to  its  calamities.  It  was  certainly  fort- 
unate both  for  Lady  Selkirk  and  me,  that  I  was  from 
home,  and  it  was  also  fortunate  for  you,  Sir,  that  your 
officers  and  men  behaved  well,  for  had  any  of  my  family 
suffered  outrage,  murder  or  violence,  no  quarter  of  the 
Globe  should  have  secured  you  nor  even  some  of  those 
under  whose  commission  you  act,  from  my  vengeance. 
But,  Sir,  I  am  happy  that  their  welfare  enables  me  to 
inform  you,  that  the  Orders  you  mention  in  your  letter 
were  punctually  obeyed  by  your  two  Officers  and  Men, 
who  in  every  respect  behaved  as  well  as  could  be  ex- 
pected on  such  an  occasion.    All  the  men  remained  on 


320  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  outside  of  the  house,  were  civil  and  did  no  injury, 
the  two  officers  alone  came  within,  and  behaved  with 
civility,  and  we  were  all  sorry  to  hear  afterwards  that 
the  younger  officer  in  green  uniform  was  killed  in  your 
engagement  with  the  Drake,  for  he  in  particular  showed 
so  much  civility  and  so  apparent  a  dislike  at  the  busi- 
ness he  was  then  on,  that  it  is  surprising  how  he  should 
have  been  one  of  the  proposers  of  it.  What  you  men- 
tion is  certainly  so,  that  some  of  the  Plate  was  left, 
but  that  was  contrary  to  Lady  Selkirk's  intention  and 
to  her  orders,  but  happened  partly  by  accident,  con- 
fusion and  hurry,  and  partly  by  the  improper  inclina- 
tions of  some  servants,  for  which  they  were  severely 
reprimanded  afterwards.  So  much  was  it  contrary  to 
Lady  Selkirk's  intentions,  that  she,  having  met  a  ser- 
vant carrying  some  Plate  out  of  the  way,  ordered  it 
instantly  to  be  taken  back  and  given  up,  and  indeed 
her  giving  the  inventory  along  with  it,  tho'  not  asked 
for,  proves  that  she  meant  it  all  to  go,  as  the  inventory 
would  only  serve  to  show,  what  she  would  not  have  in- 
clined to  be  known,  had  she  intended  or  believed  any 
was  left,  and  indeed  had  your  Officers  taken  time  to 
examine  it,  they  would  have  got  all,  by  means  of  the 
inventory,  but  the  only  thing  they  observed  wanting 
was  a  tea  pot  and  coffee  pot,  and  on  mentioning  it,  the 
servant  immediately  brought  them.  This  circum- 
stance, however,  proves  also  what  I  have  pleasure  in 
acknowledging,  that  your  Officers  obeyed  your  orders 
in  making  no  search,  for  which,  Sir,  you  are  entitled  to 
our  thanks,  and  I  most  willingly  give  them.  Tho'  you 
say  nothing  improper  about  what  was  left,  nor  can 
Lady  Selkirk  be  thought  at  all  accountable  for  it,  yet 
she  chooses  these  things  to  be  mentioned,  as  she  said 
to  your  officers  she  believed  it  was  all  delivered,  and 
she  would  be  sorry  if  any  person  whatever  should  be- 
lieve her  capable  of  deceit.    The  little  Plate  that  was 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  321 

left,  will  seem  greater  by  the  inventory  than  it  was  in 
reality,  of  the  six  candle  sticks  left,  two  are  of  a  very 
small  old  fashioned  kind,  and  belonged  to  Lady  Sel- 
kirk's Grandmother,  and  are  not  one-third  of  the 
weight  of  those  now  in  fashion,  the  other  two  are  little 
flat  trifles  made  exceedingly  small,  for  the  purpose  of 
standing  in  a  cabinet  for  the  purpose  of  sealing  letters, 
the  teaspoons  and  also  some  spoons  of  an  inferior  make, 
used  at  the  housekeepers  table,  by  not  being  kept  in 
the  Butler's  Pantry  were  forgot,  together  with  some 
other  very  small  things  of  little  value,  all  the  larger 
things  left  were  of  the  Birmingham  plated  kind.  Your 
genteel  offer,  Sir,  of  returning  the  plate  is  very  polite, 
but  at  the  same  time  neither  Lady  Selkirk  nor  I  can 
think  of  accepting  it,  as  you  must  purchase  it  you  say 
for  that  purpose,  but  if  your  delicacy  makes  you  unwill- 
ing to  keep  that  share  of  its  value  which  as  Captain 
you  are  entitled  to,  without  purchasing,  I  would  in  that 
case  wish  that  part  to  be  given  to  those  private  men 
who  were  on  the  party,  as  an  encouragement  for  their 
good  behaviour.  You,  Sir,  are  entitled  to  what  is  more 
honorable,  viz:  the  Praise  of  having  your  men  under 
good  discipline,  which  on  all  occasions  I  take  care  to 
make  known. 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

Selkirk. 

Lord  Selkirk  to  Lord  Despencer: 

My  Lord: 

Your  obliging  attention  in  sending  Lady  Selkirk  that 
strange  letter  of  Apologies  Jones  wrote  from  Brest,  has 
emboldened  me  to  give  you  this  additional  trouble,  and 
makes  me  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  to  you  my 
answer  to  him,  which  otherwise  I  should  not  know  how 
to  send.  I  presume  there  is  no  impropriety  in  allowing 
my  letter  to  go  on.    I  leave  that  to  your  better  judg- 


322  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ment  and  knowledge.  He  is  such  an  odd  fellow  by 
what  I  hear  of  him,  (for  we  were  perfectly  unac- 
quainted with  him  till  his  landing  at  my  house)  that  it 
is  not  easy  to  know  how  to  write  to  him,  nor  yet  very 
proper  to  neglect  answering  him,  since  he  is  anxious  to 
get  one.  You  would  see  by  his  strange  ridiculous  bom- 
bast letter,  that  he  is  altogether  an  exotick  character. 
I  am  not  entirely  convinced  that  he  is  the  man  that  the 
people  of  this  country  say  he  is,  if  he  is  not  that  man, 
he  seems  to  be  an  enthusiast,  absurd  and  ignorant  of 
the  springs  and  moves  of  our  affairs,  and  as  such  I 
would  wish  to  convince  him  that  he  had  no  business 
to  meddle  with  me,  But  if  he  is  the  man  whom  the 
people  here  believe  him  to  be,  he  is  both  a  dangerous 
and  worthless  fellow  by  all  accounts  I  can  hear  of  him. 
He  is  said  to  be  a  most  cruel  fellow,  to  have  committed 
no  less  than  three  murders,  and  that  in  absconding 
from  the  West  Indies  after  the  last  one,  he  fled  to 
America,  and  so  commenced  heroic  vindicator  of  the 
Rights  of  Mankind,  and  the  Officer  of  fine  feelings.  I 
have  made  my  letter  to  him  intolerably  long,  but  I 
could  not  well  help  it,  unless  I  had  given  him  a  very 
short  answer,  which  might  have  made  him  burn  my 
house  at  his  next  trip  to  these  coasts,  but  we  should 
give  the  Devil  his  due,  he  certainly,  be  who  he  will, 
behaved  well  at  my  house,  notwithstanding  that  some 
Plate  was  taken  away.  His  letter  was  so  long  and  so 
absurd,  that  it  has  forced  me  to  be  very  diffuse  also, 
and  perhaps  as  absurd,  to  think  of  arguing  with  the 
Captain  of  a  Privateer.  If  you  do  not  send  the  letter, 
be  so  good  as  to  return  it,  tho'  I  think  there  can  be  no 
harm  in  sending  it. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  much  regard  and  esteem 
Your  Lordship's  most  obedient  and  most  humble 
servant 

Selkirk. 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  323 

From  Lord  Despencer  to  Lord  Selkirk: 

June  22nd,  1778. 
My  Lord: 

I  am  upon  all  occasions  extremely  desirous  to  obey 
your  commands  when  I  think  I  can  do  it  with  pro- 
priety, but  I  cannot  help  doubting,  in  the  situation  I 
am  in,  the  propriety  of  my  forwarding  a  letter  to  such 
a  Rascal  and  Rebel  as  this  Jones;  a  letter  directed 
to  him  must  of  course  be  opened  at  the  Post  Office. 
This  being  the  case,  and  my  real  sentiments,  I  hope 
your  Lordship  will  excuse  my  returning  you  the  letter 
you  sent  me  to  forward  to  such  a  person. 

Your  Lordship's  most  obedient  and  most  humble 
servant, 

Le  Despencer. 

A  long  series  of  difficulties  incident  to  the  valuation 
of  the  plate  delayed  for  several  years  its  return.  In 
the  year  1779,  before  Jones's  cruise  in  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  he  finally  succeeded,  with  the  help  of  Jona- 
than Williams,  in  getting  it  away  from  Mr.  Schweig- 
hauser,  the  Continental  agent  at  Nantes,  but  it  was 
not  until  February  12,  1784,  that  Jones  wrote  to  Lord 
Selkirk  announcing  that  in  consequence  of  the  permis- 
sion communicated  to  him  through  the  latter's  son, 
Lord  Daer,  he  had  ordered  the  plate  to  be  for- 
warded to  the  care  of  Lord  Selkirk's  sister-in-law,  the 
Countess  of  Morton,  in  London.  "My  sole  induce- 
ment," he  declared  in  this  letter,  "was  to  turn  the  at- 
tention of  my  men  and  stop  their  rage  from  breaking 
out  and  retalliating  on  your  house  and  effects,  the  too 
wanton  burnings  and  desolation  that  had  been  com- 
mitted against  their  relatives  and  fellow  citizens  in 


324  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

America  by  the  British,  of  which  I  assure  you  you 
would  have  felt  the  severe  consequences  had  I  not 
fallen  on  an  expedient  to  prevent  it,  and  hurried  my 
people  away  before  they  had  time  for  further  reflec- 
tion. As  you  were  so  obliging  as  to  say  to  Mr.  Alex- 
ander that  my  people  behaved  with  great  decency  at 
your  house,  I  ask  the  favor  of  you  to  announce  that 
circumstance  to  the  public.' ' 

On  the  4th  of  August,  1785,  Lord  Selkirk  replied 
that  the  plate,  after  more  than  a  year  of  further  de- 
lay, had  at  last  arrived  in  Scotland,  and  that  he  had 
announced  its  return,  together  with  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  good  behavior  of  Jones's  men  to  "many 
people  of  fashion,  and  on  all  occasions  both  now  and 
formerly,  I  have  done  you  the  justice  to  tell  that  you 
made  an  offer  of  returning  the  plate  very  soon  after 
your  return  to  Brest." 

The  plate  finally  arrived  at  Castle  Douglas  intact, 
after  its  many  wanderings,  with  the  tea  leaves  still  in 
the  kettle,  where  even  to  this  day  it  is  offered  to  the 
inspection  of  any  American  visitors. 

The  correspondence  relating  to  the  celebrated  raid 
is  preserved  in  the  strong-room  of  the  castle,  and 
copies  of  it  have  been  presented  by  a  descendant  of  Lord 
Selkirk  to  the  Navy  Department  in  Washington. 

A  very  brief  letter  from  Lord  Daer  to  his  father, 
written  from  Paris  in  the  year  1791,  relates  his  meeting 
with  Jones  at  the  house  of  the  American  envoy  to 
Paris,  with  an  expression  of  surprise  that  the  black- 
browed  marauder  was  in  reality  so  quiet  and  esti- 
mable an  individual. 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  325 

Lord  Daer  to  Lord  Selkirk: 

Paris,  April  20th,  1791. 
I  was  carried  to-day  to  take  a  dinner  at  Mr.  Short's 
the  American  Envoy  to  this  Kingdom.  I  met  there 
Thomas  Paine,  the  author  of  "The  Rights  of  Man" 
and  Paul  Jones.  This  latter  and  I  had  two  hours  in 
the  room,  walking,  and  at  dinner,  before  either  of  us 
knew  who  the  other  was.  After  dinner  we  were  intro- 
duced, I  made  him  a  speech  from  you,  expressive  of 
your  obligations  to  him,  for  the  order  in  which  his  men 
were  kept  at  the  landing.  I  told  him  how  you  had 
first  answered  his  letter.  He  said  he  had  got  your 
second,  and  began  apologizing  for  not  having  answered 
it.  I  told  him  there  was  no  occasion,  it  had  not  been 
expected  he  should.  He  seems  a  sensible  little  fellow. 
He  is  not  dark  as  I  had  heard.  He  acknowledged  he 
was  from  Britain,  but  said  he  was  settled  in  America 
before  the  war  began,  and  it  was  then  his  country.  I 
did  not  ask  him  from  what  part  of  the  kingdom. 
Yours  affectionately, 

Daer. 

Whatever  effect  Lord  Selkirk's  extremely  sincere 
epistles  might  have  eventually  produced  upon  Paul 
Jones,  with  their  evident  and  entire  unconsciousness  of 
any  personal  knowledge  of  his  correspondent,  Jones 
clearly  retained  at  the  time  of  his  letter  to  Franklin  in 
March,  1779,  his  long-cherished  belief  in  some  connec- 
tion with  the  Selkirk  family. 

In  the  winter  of  1780,  in  reply  to  a  request  of  the 
Baron  Van  der  Capellen  for  a  public  declaration  in 
regard  to  his  relationship  with  Lord  Selkirk,  he  stated 
that  "he  had  no  obligation  to  Lord  Selkirk,  except  for 
his  good  opinion,  and  that  neither  himself  or  his  imme- 


326  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

diate  family  were  known  to  the  earl  except  by  repu- 
tation." 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  during  his  sojourn 
in  Paris,  from  1784  to  1786,  he  dwelt  in  the  same 
lodging  with  the  author  of  the  already  quoted  letter  in 
the  American  Literary  Magazine,  and  to  him  made  his 
final  statement  that  he  was  the  son  of  George  Paul, 
Lord  Selkirk's  gardener.  Having  been  ultimately  dis- 
abused by  the  character  of  Lord  Selkirk's  later  epistles, 
and  doubtless  by  further  information  concerning  the 
well-known  facts  of  Lord  Selkirk's  absence  from  Saint 
Mary's  Isle  during  the  years  preceding  and  following 
his  birth,  Jones  had  finally  been  compelled  to  abandon 
his  belief  in  his  aristocratic  descent  and  to  conclude 
that  the  Duke  of  Queensbury's  unusual  interest  did 
not  imply  any  relation  to  the  Selkirk  family. 

The  statements  of  Jones  himself  in  regard  to  his 
service  in  the  British  navy,  definitely  contained  in  his 
letter  to  Morris,  and  the  unquestionable  suggestion  of 
his  relationship  to  Lord  Selkirk  in  the  letter  to  Frank- 
lin, exist  in  his  own  handwriting,  and  are  therefore 
evidence  of  an  unimpeachable  kind.  The  significance 
of  Mrs.  Birnie's  suggestion  as  to  the  irregularity  of  his 
birth  is  likewise  highly  important,  as  she  was  in  a  posi- 
tion to  know  the  facts  from  her  immediate  family. 

Jones's  statement  to  his  fellow-lodger  rests  on  the 
authority  of  a  reviewer  of  a  perfectly  reliable  publica- 
tion, and  the  internal  evidence  of  veracity  in  the  writ- 
ten statement  of  his  informant.  It  is  the  only  state- 
ment coming  from  Jones  himself  in  regard  to  his 
paternity.    Taken  in  consideration  with  the  accounts 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  327 

in  the  Chase  narrative  and  those  of  Colonel  Green  in 
regard  to  the  utterances  of  Jones  to  his  friends  in  North 
Carolina,  the  above  collection  of  testimony  of  a  mutu- 
ally confirmatory  character  bearing  upon  his  early  be- 
lief that  he  was  related  to  the  Selkirk  family  can  admit 
of  little  question. 

Without  the  determining  motive  which  Jones  himself 
so  long  believed  to  have  actuated  the  protection  and 
favor  of  the  Duke  of  Queensbury,  it  is  evident  that  this 
unusual  attitude  must  have  arisen  from  the  Duke's 
recognition  of  the  remarkable  promise  of  the  child  whom 
he  found  in  the  garden  at  Saint  Mary's  Isle. 

Wholly  unaware,  as  both  Lord  and  Lady  Selkirk  un- 
questionably were,  of  the  delusion  existing  in  Paul 
Jones's  mind  as  to  the  connection  with  their  family,  the 
strange  letter  which  they  received  from  an  individual 
known  only  to  them  through  the  disparaging  reports 
current  in  the  adjoining  village  and  county  of  Kirkcud- 
bright, must  always  have  been  entirely  incomprehen- 
sible. Lord  Selkirk's  letters  are  those  of  a  singularly 
honest  and  high-minded  person,  anxious  to  do  full 
justice  to  the  much-despised  man  who  had  dealt  so 
surprisingly  with  his  property.  The  obscure  psychol- 
ogy of  the  mind  from  which  emanated  the  epistle  to 
Lady  Selkirk  is  worth  analysis.  The  first  and  ruling 
passion  of  Paul  Jones  was  ambition;  this  ambition, 
abnormal  in  its  intensity,  was  the  motive-power  which 
determined  his  career. 

While  yet  of  tender  years  he  abandoned  his  position 
in  the  royal  navy  for  lack  of  opportunities  of  quick  ad- 
vancement.   This  same  ambition,  combined  with  great 


328  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

capacity,  procured  him  the  position  of  mate  and  com- 
mander of  trading-vessels  while  he  was  still  exceed- 
ingly youthful,  and  after  disastrous  adventures  and  re- 
verses brought  about  his  astonishing  advancement  to 
his  conspicuous  place  in  the  United  States  navy. 

Ambition,  working  unhindered  upon  his  immensely 
vigorous  imagination,  built  the  delusion  of  an  aristo- 
cratic extraction  upon  circumstantial  evidence,  wholly 
devoid  of  definite  facts.  From  his  self-love  and  burn- 
ing determination  to  force  his  own  valuation  of  himself 
into  public  recognition  grew  the  extraordinary  concep- 
tion of  carrying  off  his  supposed  father  as  a  captive 
and  the  no  less  extraordinary  address  to  Lady  Selkirk. 

From  the  height  to  which  his  untrammelled  fancy 
had  raised  him  he  announced  himself  as  the  impartial 
defender  of  the  insulted  rights  of  human  nature,  de- 
claring himself  "totally  unfettered  by  the  little  mean 
distinctions  of  climate  or  of  country."  Bearing  the 
American  flag,  he  went  so  far  as  to  state  that  he  was 
not  in  arms  as  an  American,  an  expression  in  actual 
disagreement  with  his  unquestioned  devotion  to  the 
"country  of  his  fond  election"  and  with  the  facts. 
This  unsympathetic  declaration  can  only  be  explained 
by  the  torturing  consciousness  of  his  attitude  toward 
his  native  land,  and  of  the  public  odium  which  he 
realized  he  had  thereby  incurred. 

Together  with  this  deep-lying  consciousness,  forcing 
him  into  the  impartial  position  of  a  "citizen  of  the 
world,"  were  the  long  and  bitter  reflections  of  his 
youth  upon  the  stigma  of  illegitimacy  and  the  later 
and  undeserved  obloquy  which  had  made  his  name  a 


THE  SELKIRK  RAID  329 

byword  of  contempt  in  his  home  and  driven  him  into 
exile. 

These  were  the  sources  from  which  emerged,  in  the 
poetic  phraseology  of  the  period,  this  curious  apologia 
for  his  character  and  motives  which  has  for  so  many 
years  puzzled  the  students  of  his  character. 

He  was  exceedingly  proud  of  the  carefully  turned 
phrases;  sent  the  letter  open  to  the  Postmaster-General 
to  insure  its  official  recognition,  and  furnished  many 
copies  to  his  valued  friends.  Without  his  extraordi- 
nary passion  for  distinction  Paul  Jones  would  never  have 
emerged  from  the  obscure  and  unfortunate  conditions 
of  his  birth;  but  the  attack  upon  Lord  Selkirk's  estate, 
together  with  the  strange  letter  which  resulted  from  it, 
remain  as  the  fantastic  error  and  the  culminating 
extravagance  of  the  tyrant  motive  which  enslaved 
him.1 

1  In  a  report  to  the  board  of  admiralty  of  the  year  1781  is  found  the 
following  reference  to  his  descent  upon  Saint  Mary's  Isle: 

"I  landed  the  day  after  in  Scotland  in  order  to  take  some  nobleman 
prisoner  as  a  hostage  for  the  good  treatment  and  exchange  of  our 
countrymen  in  England.  The  Earl  of  Selkirk  lived  near  the  shore,  and 
it  was  my  intention  to  take  him." 

This  unnecessary  disclaimer  of  any  especial  interest  in  this  particular 
nobleman  is  very  significant  in  its  disagreement  with  Jones's  habitual 
and  transparent  frankness.  Having  known  Saint  Mary's  Isle  since  his 
childhood,  it  would  have  been  far  more  natural  if  he  had  assigned  this 
familiarity  as  the  reason  of  his  choice  of  Lord  Selkirk  as  a  hostage. 


CHAPTER  Xn 

SIMPSON 

The  weather,  fortunately,  remained  moderate  for 
twenty-four  hours  after  the  engagement  with  the 
Drake,  so  that  Jones  was  able  to  refit  the  two  ships 
and  get  them  in  readiness  for  the  return  voyage  to 
Brest.  These  necessary  preparations  did  not  prevent 
the  victorious  captain  from  capturing  a  Whitehaven 
brigantine,  which  out  of  curiosity  had  ventured  too  near 
the  Ranger  and  her  prize.  The  weather  soon  became 
unfavorable  and  the  wind  rose  and  shifted  to  the  north. 
Jones  therefore  determined  to  give  up  his  design  of 
returning  as  he  came,  by  Saint  George's  Channel,  and 
steered  a  northerly  course  with  the  purpose  of  rounding 
the  coast  of  Ireland.  This  brought  him  off  Belfast 
Lough  toward  nightfall  of  the  day  following  the  battle. 
"It  was  now  time,"  he  relates,  "to  release  the  honest 
Irishmen  whom  I  took  here  on  the  twenty-first,  and  as 
the  poor  fellows  had  lost  their  boat,  she  having  sunk, 
in  the  late  stormy  weather,  I  was  happy  in  my  power 
to  give  them  the  necessary  sum  to  purchase  everything 
new  which  they  had  lost.  I  gave  them  also  a  good 
boat  to  transport  themselves  ashore,  and  sent  with  them 
two  infirm  men,  on  whom  I  bestowed  the  last  guinea 
in  my  possession  to  defray  their  traveling  expenses  to 
their  proper  home  in  Dublin.    They  took  with  them 

330 


SIMPSON  331 

one  of  the  Drake' s  sails,  which  would  sufficiently  explain 
what  had  happened  to  the  volunteers.  The  grateful 
Irishmen  were  enraptured,  and  expressed  their  joy  in 
three  huzzas  as  they  passed  the  Ranger1  s  quarter." 

Jones's  invariable  humanity  to  his  prisoners,  as 
shown  in  the  case  of  the  Canadian  fishermen,  whom  he 
had  furnished  with  a  ship  to  transport  them  across 
the  Northern  ocean  after  he  had  effected  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  enemy's  fisheries  at  Canso,  was  again  shown 
in  his  kindness  to  these  Irishmen  as  well  as  in  a  very 
courteous  letter  which  he  wrote  at  this  time  to  inform 
the  relations  of  Lieutenant  Dobbs  of  the  circumstances 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  two  days  after  the  capture 
of  the  Drake. 

On  the  20th  Jones  placed  his  first  lieutenant,  Simp- 
son, in  command  of  the  Drake,  with  careful  instructions 
to  keep  close  to  the  Ranger,  to  assist  him  in  any  en- 
counter with  British  ships,  and  in  case  of  unavoidable 
separation  from  his  consort,  to  steer  directly  to  the 
port  of  Brest.  The  Drake,  however,  was  in  tow  of  the 
Ranger  during  the  passage  around  the  northern  coast 
of  Ireland,  the  two  vessels  pursuing  their  course  with- 
out incident  until  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  May,  when 
they  were  off  Ushant.  Jones  then  perceived  a  strange 
sail  at  a  short  distance,  and  ordering  the  hawser  cut 
which  attached  him  to  the  Drake,  started  off  alone  in 
pursuit  of  the  prize.  Finding  that  it  was  a  Swede,  he  im- 
mediately turned  back  to  rejoin  the  Drake,  but  instead 
of  waiting  for  the  Ranger,  the  Drake  hauled  close  by 
the  wind,  so  that  when  the  Ranger  hailed  her  she  was 
nearly  out  of  sight.    Owing  to  this  unexpected  circum- 


332  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

stance,  Jones  was  unable  to  chase  a  number  of  large 
merchant-ships,  which  sailed  by  him  into  the  channel, 
being  compelled  to  run  after  the  Drake,  which  still 
steered  her  course  away  from  him.  Toward  noon  the 
Ranger  came  up  nearly  abreast  of  the  Drake,  but  con- 
siderably to  leeward,  when  the  wind  shifted,  and  the 
Drake  again  showed  her  heels  to  her  pursuer.  Jones 
flew  his  signals  in  vain  during  the  afternoon  and  all 
through  the  night,  and  when  morning  dawned  gave 
chase  to  a  sail  which  he  perceived  at  a  very  great  dis- 
tance. The  vessel  showed  no  intention  of  speaking 
the  Ranger,  although,  as  Jones  afterward  learned,  she 
was  recognized  and  her  signals  plainly  seen.  Jones 
finally  succeeded  in  coming  up  with  the  fleeing  ship, 
when  he  discovered  that  she  was  no  other  than  the 
truant  Drake.  Exceedingly  angry  over  his  lost  time, 
exasperated  at  length  by  this  last  exhibition  of  insub- 
ordination, and  no  doubt  fortified  by  his  recent  suc- 
cesses, he  now  suspended  Simpson  for  disobedience  of 
orders,  and  put  his  second  lieutenant,  Elijah  Hall,  in 
command  of  the  Drake.  This  entirely  justifiable  action 
was  destined  to  involve  him  in  many  complications  and 
clouded  the  pleasure  of  his  success. 

On  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  May  the  two  ships 
arrived  finally  off  the  mouth  of  Brest  harbor.  Jones 
had  brought  in  as  many  as  two  hundred  prisoners,  and 
his  first  concern  was  to  insure  by  an  equal  exchange 
the  release  of  the  American  captives  who  had  long  been 
languishing  in  the  British  military  jails.  His  first  act 
on  landing  at  Brest  was  to  pay  an  early  morning  visit 
to  his  friend  Count  D'Orvilliers,  to  consult  with  him  as 


SIMPSON  333 

to  the  best  methods  of  avoiding  any  miscarriage  of  his 
purpose.  D'Orvilliers  welcomed  him  with  great  cor- 
diality, and,  although  considering  that  he  was  bound  to 
announce  the  capture  of  the  English  prisoners  and  the 
result  of  Jones's  cruise  to  his  government,  which  he  did 
by  letter  on  this  very  day,  he  advised  Jones  to  forestall 
any  possible  interference  with  the  execution  of  his 
plans  by  equipping  the  Drake  with  all  speed,  and  send- 
ing the  prisoners  off  to  America  before  any  answer 
could  arrive  from  Paris.  The  ill-advised  policy  of  re- 
leasing English  prisoners  on  parole,  without  assurance 
of  exchange,  had  rendered  all  Franklin's  earnest  efforts 
for  the  release  of  the  American  captives  quite  ineffect- 
ual. This  policy  had  been  followed  by  the  captains  of 
the  American  cruisers  in  Europe,  for  the  reason  that 
they  had  no  funds  with  which  to  maintain  their  pris- 
oners. Jones  was  determined  to  make  a  better  use  of 
the  two  hundred  he  had  captured,  and  had  no  inten- 
tion of  letting  one  of  them  go  without  exchange. 

His  first  letter  to  the  commissioners  was  written  im- 
mediately after  his  consultation  with  D'Orvilliers: 

Ranger,  Brest,  May  9th,  1778. 
Gentlemen: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acquaint  you  that  I  arrived  here 
last  night  and  brought  in  with  me  the  British  ship  of 
war  Drake,  of  20  guns,  with  English  colors  inverted 
under  the  American  stars.  I  shall  soon  give  you  the 
particulars  of  my  cruise;  in  the  meantime  you  will 
see  some  account  of  it  in  a  letter  of  this  date  from 
Count  D'Orvilliers  to  Monseigneur  de  Sartine.  I  have 
brought  in  two  hundred  prisoners,  and  as  Comte  D'Or- 
villiers is  apprehensive  that  as  war  with  England  is 


334  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

not  yet  declared,  they  may  perhaps  be  given  up  with- 
out exchange,  I  have  resolved  to  equip  the  Drake  with 
all  possible  expedition  at  Cammeret,  and  to  send  the 
prisoners  in  her  to  America,  so  fully  am  I  convinced  of 
the  bad  policy  of  releasing  prisoners,  especially  seamen, 
without  an  exchange,  that  I  am  determined  never  to 
do  it  while  there  remains  an  alternative.  I  should  not, 
however,  have  taken  a  resolution  of  such  importance 
without  consulting  with  you,  had  not  Comte  D'Or- 
villiers  told  me  that  the  return  of  a  letter  from  the 
Minister  might  perhaps  put  it  out  of  my  power,  and 
therefore  recommended  me  that  I  should  lose  no  time. 

Notwithstanding  this,  you  will  perhaps  find  it  expe- 
dient to  endeavor  to  effect  an  exchange  of  those  pris- 
oners in  Europe,  and  should  the  Minister  agree  to  hold 
them  avowedly  as  prisoners  of  war,  you  will  of  course 
inform  me  thereof  per  express,  so  as  to  reach  me  if 
possible  before  the  departure  of  the  Drake. 

I  have  suspended  and  confined  Lieutenant  Simpson 
for  disobedience  of  orders.    I  have  only  time  at  pres- 
ent to  add  that  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  much 
esteem  and  respect,  Gentlemen, 
Your  very  obliged,  very  obedient,  very  humble  servant, 

John  Paul  Jones. 

This  letter,  with  its  very  natural  pride  in  the  hitherto 
unprecedented  capture  of  an  English  man-of-war,  and 
its  glowing  reference  to  the  American  flag,  furnishes  a 
far  more  consistent  and  genuine  expression  of  Paul 
Jones's  real  devotion  to  the  country  of  his  "fond  elec- 
tion''  than  the  strange  self-conscious  rhodomontade  of 
the  epistle  so  lately  penned  to  Lady  Selkirk. 

As  no  express  arrived  to  inform  him  of  the  commis- 
sioners' will  in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  his  prisoners, 
and  as  he  was  anxious  already  to  find  the  funds  with 


SIMPSON  335 

which  to  maintain  them,  and  to  clothe  and  feed  his 
crew,  Jones  wrote  to  Franklin  on  the  16th  to  announce 
that  he  had  that  day  drawn  on  the  commissioners,  in 
favor  of  M.  Bersolle,  a  bill  of  24,000  livres.  He  was 
further  impelled  to  this  action  by  the  intelligence  com- 
municated to  him  by  the  French  authorities  that  the 
sale  of  the  Ranger's  prizes  was  likely  to  be  indefinitely 
delayed  by  the  claims  of  the  admiralty  board  at  Brest. 
His  confidence  in  the  support  of  the  representatives  of 
his  government,  and  his  continued  regard  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  men  who  had  so  reluctantly  aided  him  in 
his  cruise,  were  both  destined  to  severe  and  afflicting 
disillusionment.  The  commissioners  declined  to  honor 
his  bill,  and  his  officers  and  crew,  with  scarcely  an  ex- 
ception, sympathized  with  Simpson  and  wrote  to  the 
commissioners  to  protest  against  his  imprisonment. 

Again,  as  in  the  case  of  his  superseding  in  rank, 
Paul  Jones  was  destined  to  receive  blows  instead  of 
laurels,  and  "roses"  which  he  complained  "had  a 
superabundance  of  thorns."  His  feelings  in  regard  to 
his  rebuff  at  the  hands  of  the  commissioners  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  continuation  of  his  detailed  account  of 
the  cruise  sent  on  the  27th.  No  reply  had  arrived  in 
answer  to  his  letters  of  the  9th  and  16th,  nor  was 
there  any  indication  that  any  report  had  reached  the 
commissioners  through  D'Orvilliers's  letter  to  Sartine, 
although  the  latter  had  replied  to  D'Orvilliers.  "M. 
Bersolle,"  Jones  writes  to  the  commissioners,  "has  this 
moment  informed  me  of  the  fate  of  my  bills,  the  more 
extraordinary,  as  I  have  made  no  use  of  your  letter  of 
credit  of  the  10th  of  January  last,  whereby  I  then 


336  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

seemed  entitled  to  call  for  half  the  amount  of  my  last 
draft,  and  I  did  not  expect  to  be  thought  extravagant 
when  on  the  16th  current  I  doubled  that  demand.  I 
cannot,  however,  be  silent  when  I  find  the  public  credit 
in  the  same  disgrace.  I  conceive  this  might  have  been 
prevented.  To  make  me  completely  wretched  M.  Ber- 
solle  has  told  me  that  he  now  holds  his  hand,  not  only 
of  the  necessary  articles  to  refit  the  ship,  but  also  of 
the  daily  provisions.  I  know  not  how  to  find  to-mor- 
row's dinner  for  the  great  number  of  mouths  that 
depend  on  me  for  food.  Are  the  Continental  ships  of 
war  to  depend  on  their  prizes  for  a  daily  dinner  for 
their  men?  Publish  it  not  in  Gath.  My  officers  as 
well  as  men  want  clothes,  and  the  prizes  are  precluded 
from  being  sold  before  further  orders  from  the  Min- 
ister. I  will  ask  you,  gentlemen,  if  I  have  deserved  all 
this?  I  am  unwilling  to  think  that  you  have  inten- 
tionally involved  me  in  this  sad  dilemma  at  a  time 
when  I  ought  to  expect  some  enjoyment." 

It  is  evident  that  Jones  would  have  been  wiser  had  he 
availed  himself  first  of  the  letter  of  credit  for  500 
"Louidores,"  which  he  already  had  in  his  hands,  and 
then  sent  an  account  of  his  further  expenses  and  neces- 
sities to  the  commissioners.  This  letter  of  credit  was 
actually  written  by  Arthur  Lee  himself  and  that 
troublesome  gentleman  would  have  been  compelled  to 
honor  it. 

Jones's  natural  elation  at  his  unprecedented  success 
and  his  earnest  desire  to  please  the  disaffected  officers 
and  men  of  the  Ranger,  coupled  with  his  belief  that  he 
was  entitled  to  call  for  twice  the  amount  of  his  letter  of 


SIMPSON  337 

credit,  after  his  cruise  had  been  successfully  completed, 
and  twice  the  number  of  months  had  elapsed  for  which 
this  letter  of  credit  was  supposed  to  suffice,  furnish  the 
excuse  and  explanation  of  his  act.  The  difficulties 
which  this  very  pardonable  indiscretion  brought  upon 
him  were  many,  and  were  complicated  by  reasons  of 
which  he  was  then  unaware.  The  commissioners  were 
exceedingly  embarrassed  for  funds,  but  Franklin  would 
unquestionably  have  found  some  means  of  relieving  his 
immediate  necessities  if  his  hands  had  not  been  tied 
temporarily  by  the  radical  change  which  had  taken 
place  at  Passy,  owing  to  the  arrival  of  John  Adams,  on 
April  the  1st,  to  take  the  place  of  Silas  Deane. 

Adams  was,  at  least  at  this  time,  in  sympathy  with 
Arthur  Lee,  and  Lee's  policy  of  suspicion  and  obstruc- 
tion was  now  in  control.  Adams  belonged  to  the  New 
England  party  in  Congress,  who  were  secretly  opposed 
to  both  Washington  and  Franklin  and  jealous  of  their 
power.  He  was  supported  very  strongly  by  the  pow- 
erful Lee  brothers  in  this  attitude,  and  they  repre- 
sented a  dangerous  opposition  to  the  great  constructive 
leaders  who  were  laboring  not  only  for  the  indepen- 
dence but  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  new 
nation. 

A  glance  at  the  secret  journals  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  now  open  to  public  perusal,  with  their  records 
of  the  small  majorities  which  defeated  the  Conway 
cabal,  and  the  attempts  of  the  Lees  to  place  their 
brother  Arthur  in  sole  control  in  Paris,  furnish  a  terri- 
fying retrospect  of  the  dangers  which  nearly  dethroned 
Washington  in  America  and  Franklin  in  Europe,  and 


338  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

narrowly  failed  of  destroying  the  usefulness  of  the 
great  leaders  in  the  republic  at  the  moment  of  its 
birth.  John  Adams  was  afterward  convinced  of  Lee's 
malicious  inefficiency,  but  now  distinctly  supported 
him  in  the  acts  which  were  prompted  by  the  latter's 
insane  jealousy  and  suspicion.  A  sweeping  reform  was 
instituted  in  the  business  methods  of  the  commissioners, 
office  at  Passy  by  Adams,  at  the  instigation  of  Lee,  and 
a  minute  examination  of  accounts  was  made  and 
changes  brought  about  which  Franklin  himself  punc- 
tiliously aided  and  abetted.1 

Jonathan  Williams,  holding  his  appointment  as  Con- 
tinental agent  at  Nantes  under  the  authority  of  the 
commissioners,  was  dismissed,  with  his  uncle's  concur- 
rence, on  the  peremptory  order  of  Adams  and  Lee;  and 
Lee's  brother,  William,  who  had  been  informed  by  an 
unconfirmed  private  letter  to  Deane  from  a  member  of 
Congress,  that  that  body  had  appointed  him,  with 
direct  and  superior  authority,  to  the  post  of  Conti- 
nental agent,  was  sent  to  Nantes  to  supersede  Jonathan 
Williams  and  to  investigate  his  papers.  William  Lee 
spent  a  couple  of  months  at  Nantes,  and  then  departed, 
leaving  one  Schweighauser,  a  foreign  merchant  and  a 
most  troublesome  and  venial  Jew,  in  charge  of  the 
American  affairs  at  the  French  port.  John  Ross's  bills 
were  also  held  up,  and  it  was  entirely  natural,  under 
such  a  sweeping  regime  of  investigation  and  suspicion, 

1  Franklin's  accounts  when  presented  to  Congress  were  found  to 
show  a  discrepancy  of  exactly  three  cents,  and  those  of  Jonathan 
Williams,  still  preserved  by  his  descendants,  were  also  found  to  be 
without  error.  His  commissions  for  the  sale  of  prizes  were  exactly 
half  the  sum  of  Schweighauser's. 


SIMPSON  339 

that  Paul  Jones,  at  the  moment  of  his  hard-won  suc- 
cess, should  come  in  for  his  share  of  the  trouble. 

Other  unfortunate  circumstances  which  probably 
influenced  Franklin's  concurrence  in  the  rebuff  which 
was  dealt  out  to  Jones  were  the  arrival  of  Simpson's 
complaint  at  his  imprisonment,  supported  by  the  entire 
ship's  crew,  and  the  non-arrival  of  any  account  of  ex- 
penditures to  explain  Jones's  draft,  or  of  any  official 
report  of  his  cruise.  It  does  not  appear  why  none  of 
Jones's  letters  had  reached  Passy,  but  the  first  com- 
munication from  the  commissioners,  dated  the  23d, 
written  throughout  in  the  autograph  of  Arthur  Lee,  is 
significant  of  his  temporary  ascendency  and  is  frankly 
hostile  and  mandatory  in  tone: 

To  Captain  Paul  Jones 

Sir:— 
We  have  heard  of  your  arrival  at  Brest  with  a 
prize,  and  are  surprised  that  you  have  not  given  us  an 
account  of  that,  and  of  your  other  proceedings.  We 
desire  that  you  will  not  take  any  measures  relative  to 
the  prize  and  prisoners,  you  may  have  made,  except 
in  securing  them,  nor  incur  any  considerable  expense 
without  our  orders. 

Upon  receipt  of  this,  you  will  immediately  send  us  an 
account  of  what  you  have  done  upon  your  cruise;  of 
what  your  prizes  consist  of;  what  repairs  you  want; 
and  what  further  measures  you  propose  to  pursue. 
Upon  all  these  subjects  you  will  wait  our  directions. 
Lieutenant  Simpson  has  stated  to  us  your  having  put 
him  under  arrest  for  disobeying  orders.  As  a  Court 
Martial  must  by  order  of  Congress  consist  of  three 
Captains,  three  Lieutenants,  and  three  captains  of 
Marines,  and  these  cannot  be  had  here,  it  is  our  desire 


340  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

that  he  may  have  a  passage  procured  for  him  by  the 
first  opportunity  to  America,  allowing  him  whatever 
may  be  necessary  for  his  defence.  As  the  consequences 
of  an  arrest  in  foreign  countries  are  thus  extremely 
troublesome,  they  should  be  well  considered  before  they 
are  made. 

This  was  scant  recognition  for  the  brilliant  success 
which  Jones  had  achieved  at  such  risk  and  with  such  a 
singular  display  of  his  sole  courage  and  pertinacity. 

The  next  communication  which  was  despatched  to 
him  from  the  commissioners  was  the  letter  of  the  26th, 
which  announced  the  refusal  of  his  bill.  This  docu- 
ment was  not  the  sole  work  of  Lee,  but  was  inscribed 
in  the  autograph  of  Adams  and  signed  by  all  three  of 
the  commissioners.  It  contained  a  brief  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  services,  congratulating  him  on  his  "suc- 
cess and  safe  arrival  at  Brest,"  as  well  as  on  the  "honor 
you  have  acquired  by  your  conduct."  It  informed  him 
that  a  new  Continental  agent  had  replaced  his  friend 
Williams  at  Nantes,  and  that  all  applications  for  his 
expenses  should  be  made  through  Schweighauser.  The 
new  appointee  of  Arthur  Lee  showed  not  the  slightest 
inclination  to  attend  to  his  duties,  and  Jones  found 
himself  in  a  very  critical  condition  of  poverty  and 
distress.  He  applied  to  Comte  D'Orvilliers  and  the 
Intendant  of  the  Marine  at  Brest,  as  well  as  to  the 
Due  de  Chartes,  who  lent  him  the  necessary  money 
on  his  own  personal  credit;  and  thus  relieved  by  his 
French  friends,  when  his  own  government  had  left  him 
in  the  lurch,  he  was  able  to  feed  his  prisoners  and  his 
crew.    Jones  was  tempted  to  publish  the  reasons  for  his 


SIMPSON  341 

extraordinary  predicament,  but  wisely  refrained,  con- 
tenting himself  with  pouring  out  his  indignation  pri- 
vately in  various  letters  to  his  friends,  expressed  with 
his  characteristic  freedom  and  force. 

"That  America  should  suffer  this  damned  disgrace," 
he  wrote  to  Doctor  Bancroft,  "in  the  presence  of  the 
French  fleet,  and  the  knowledge  of  every  officer  and 
person  here,  covers  me  with  shame.  None  of  my  prizes 
can  be  sold,  and  my  officers  and  men  want  the  withal 
to  cover  their  nakedness.  Mr.  Williams  I  expect  will  be 
with  you  when  this  appears;  he  will  not  forget  his 
suffering  friend  at  Brest."  To  Carmichael  and  Ross, 
and  Williams  himself,  he  also  wrote,  thanking  the  last 
named  for  his  sympathetic  letter,  and  avowing  that  he 
was  in  great  need  of  such  "cordial  drops."  "I  am  so 
ashamed,"  he  confessed,  "that  I  have  thought  of  shut- 
ting myself  up,  except  that  it  would  appear  that  I 
deserved  it, — Perhaps,  my  friend,  you  will  bring  fair 
weather  and  sunshine,  or  take  me  in  tow  until  I  can 
repair  my  rigging."  About  the  commissioners'  letter 
he  wrote:  "I  wish  you  could  see  a  letter  of  the  25th  ult. 
spun  from  the  brains  of  Arthur  Lee,  the  Commissioners 
all  sign  it,  tho'  the  first,  (Franklin)  is  the  last,  and  the 
last,  (Lee)  is  the  first.  I  know  that  the  letter  is  not  of 
Franklin's  dictation."  In  a  few  days,  an  encourag- 
ing and  complimentary  epistle  arrived  from  Franklin, 
which  showed  that  Jones's  powerful  ally  was  still  in 
sympathy  with  him  and  secretly  engaged  in  his  behalf. 
The  reference  it  contained  to  Jones's  letter  to  Lady 
Selkirk,  coming  from  the  pen  of  the  author  of  the 
"Autobiography,"  showed  an  indulgent  comprehension 


342  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  Jones's  chivalric  intentions.  What  Franklin  really 
thbught  of  the  literary  style  of  this  bombastic  example 
of  the  philosophical  jargon  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
does  not  appear. 

Passy,  May  27th,  1778. 
Dear  Sir: — 

I  received  yours  of  the  18th  enclosing  one  for  the 
Countess  of  Selkirk,  which  I  forwarded  this  day  by  the 
way  of  Holland,  as  you  desire.  It  is  a  gallant  letter, 
and  must  give  her  ladyship  a  high  and  just  opinion  of 
your  generosity  and  nobleness  of  mind.  The  Jersey 
Privateers  do  us  a  great  deal  of  mischief  by  intercepting 
our  supplies.  It  has  been  mentioned  to  me  that  your 
small  vessel  commanded  by  so  brave  an  officer,  might 
render  great  service  by  following  them  where  greater 
ships  dare  not  venture  their  bottoms,  or  being  accom- 
panied and  supported  by  some  frigates  from  Brest  at 
the  proper  distance,  might  draw  them  out  and  take 
them.  I  wish  you  to  consider  this,  as  it  comes  from 
high  authority,  and  that  you  would  immediately  let 
me  know  what  you  think  of  it,  and  when  your  ship 
would  be  ready.  I  have  written  to  England  about  the 
exchange  of  your  prisoners.  I  congratulate  you  most 
cordially  on  your  late  success,  and  wish  for  a  continu- 
ance and  increase  of  the  honor  you  have  acquired.  It 
will  always  be  a  pleasure  to  me  to  contribute  what 
may  lie  in  my  power  towards  your  advancement,  and 
that  of  the  brave  officers  under  your  command. 

This  word  of  praise  from  Franklin  produced  the 
happy  result  of  instantly  calming  Jones's  irritation  and 
restoring  to  him  his  equanimity;  such  had  been  the  in- 
fluence of  his  friend  Hewes  in  allaying  the  tormenting 
sense  of  injury  which  followed  his  supersedure  in  rank; 


SIMPSON  343 

such  was  invariably  the  result  of  the  lightest  word  of 
sympathy  or  commendation  from  any  friend  in  whom 
he  believed. 

The  plan  of  decoying  the  Jersey  privateers  was  cal- 
culated to  redound  but  little  to  Jones's  credit,  although 
accompanied  with  considerable  danger;  but  with  his 
characteristic  disinterestedness  he  signified  his  readi- 
ness to  carry  it  out,  sending  by  return  post  a  careful 
letter  filled  with  wise  suggestions  as  to  the  best  methods 
of  successfully  carrying  out  the  plan,  and  saying  that 
he  wished  to  render  "essential  services  to  the  cause  of 
America  in  any  measure  which  might  be  considered 
expedient." 

A  few  days  later  the  tide  of  his  very  natural  indigna- 
tion at  the  treatment  he  had  received  from  the  com- 
missioners had  so  far  subsided  that  he  was  able  to  send 
them  a  very  candid  letter  of  explanation  and  apology 
for  his  unauthorized  draft.  "I  frankly  ask  your  par- 
don for  the  liberty  I  took  the  16th  ult.  when  I  ventured 
to  sign  a  draft  upon  you  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
the  people  under  my  command  with  necessary  clothing. 
I  hope  that  you  do  not  impute  to  me  a  desire  to  receive 
presents  of  the  publics  money.  On  the  contrary,  I 
need  not  now  assert  that  I  stepped  forth  at  the  begin- 
ning, from  nobler  motives.  My  accounts  before  I  left 
America,  testify  that  I  am  more  than  1500  pounds  in 
advance  for  the  public  service,  exclusive  of  any  con- 
cern with  the  sloop  of  war  Ranger,  and  as  for  wages,  I 
never  received  any.  The  rules  whereby  Congress  have 
been  pleased  to  command  me  to  regulate  my  conduct 
in  the  Navy,  authorize  me  to  issue  my  warrant  to  the 


344  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

agent,  and  I  humbly  conceive  that  it  is  his  province 
to  furnish  me  with  an  estimate  of  the  amount  of  ex- 
penses." 

In  this  way  Jones  very  properly  reminded  the  com- 
missioners, with  a  view  to  enlightening  Lee  in  particu- 
lar, of  his  own  direct  relations  with  Congress.  He  also 
observed  with  point  that  all  disagreeable  altercations 
would  have  been  avoided  if  they  had  written  to  inform 
him  of  their  determination  to  change  the  Continental 
agent,  and  complained  that  the  new  incumbent  of  the 
office  had  failed  to  be  present  at  Brest  to  conduct  the 
necessary  sale  of  prizes  or  to  send  any  representative. 

The  first-fruits  of  Lee's  reform  were  not  particularly 
successful.  It  is  interesting  to  record  that  BersohVs 
accounts  were  properly  paid,  after  Bersolle  himself  had 
laid  his  complaint  before  the  French  minister  of  marine, 
and  that  Jones  himself  was  also  supplied  directly  with 
funds  for  the  necessities  of  his  crew. 

The  long  account  of  his  cruise  had  meanwhile  reached 
Franklin,  giving  at  last  a  full  idea  of  the  real  value  of 
his  achievements  and  of  his  unique  abilities,  with  the 
result  that  Franklin  began  at  once  to  provide  the  full- 
est possible  opportunities  for  their  further  use.  He 
now  availed  himself  secretly  of  his  unimpaired  influence 
with  the  French  court,  and  having  received  Sartine's 
assurance  that  the  King  would  favor  his  wishes,  on  the 
1st  of  June  he  sent  off  to  Jones  a  letter  in  which  he 
held  out  to  him  the  prospect  of  the  long-coveted  com- 
mand of  the  Indien: 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  informing  you,"  he  wrote, 
"  that  it  is  proposed  to  give  you  the  command  of  the 


SIMPSON  345 

great  ship  we  have  built  at  Amsterdam.  By  what  you 
wrote  us  formerly,  I  have  ventured  to  say  in  your  be- 
half that  this  proposition  would  be  agreeable  to  you. 
You  will  immediately  let  me  know  your  resolution, 
which  that  you  may  be  more  clear  in  taking,  I  must 
inform  you  of  some  circumstances.  She  is  at  present 
the  property  of  the  King,  but  as  there  is  no  war  yet 
declared,  you  will  have  the  commission  and  flag  of  the 
United  States,  and  act  under  their  orders  and  laws.  The 
Prince  de  Nassau  will  make  the  cruise  with  you.  She 
is  to  be  brought  here  under  cover  as  a  French  Mer- 
chantman, to  be  equipped  and  manned  in  France.  We 
hope  to  exchange  your  prisoners  for  as  many  American 
sailors,  but  if  that  fails,  you  have  your  present  crew,  to 
be  made  up  here  with  other  nations  and  French.  The 
other  commissioners  are  not  acquainted  with  this  prop- 
osition as  yet,  and  you  see  by  the  nature  of  it  that  it  is 
necessary  to  be  kept  secret  till  we  have  got  the  vessel 
here,  for  fear  of  difficulties  in  Holland  and  interrup- 
tion. You  will  therefore  direct  your  answer  to  me 
alone,  it  being  desired  that  at  present  the  affair  rest 
between  you  and  me.  Perhaps  it  may  be  best  for  you 
to  take  a  trip  up  here  to  concert  matters,  if  in  general 
you  approve  the  idea.     * 

"I  was  much  pleased  with  reading  your  journal  which 
We  received  yesterday."  .  .  . 

Jones  replied  to  this  thrice  welcome  epistle  by  return 
post :  "  I  cannot  but  be  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor 
conferred  upon  me  by  the  proposition,"  he  declared, 
"and  I  really  think  it  affords  a  fair  prospect  of  success. 
I  shall  be  happy  in  opportunities  to  prove  by  my  con- 


346  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

duct  how  much  I  wish  to  meet  the  continuance  of 
your  confidence,  and  that  of  the  Prince." 

On  the  10th  Doctor  Franklin  wrote  again,  confirming 
the  promise  of  the  Indien,  and  suggested  the  possibility 
that  the  lately  arrived  Providence  frigate,  under  Cap- 
tain Whipple,  would  join  Jones  in  the  cruise.  He 
asked  him  to  come  up  to  Versailles  without  delay,  to 
consult  with  the  commissioners  and  the  French  authori- 
ties. He  gave  Jones  a  hint  of  the  dissatisfaction  of 
Adams  and  Lee  in  regard  to  the  insubordination  on  the 
Ranger,  and  the  protection  afforded  its  captain  by  him- 
self, and  concluded  with  an  expression  of  well-merited 
confidence  and  esteem.  "The  project  of  giving  you 
this  ship  pleases  me  the  more  as  it  is  a  probable  open- 
ing to  the  higher  preferment  you  so  justly  merit." 

In  obedience  to  these  direct  orders  Jones  now  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris,  where  he  became  immediately  the 
centre  and  bone  of  contention  between  the  opposing 
commissioners.  It  is  interesting  to  observe,  by  the 
conflicting  character  of  the  letters  addressed  to  him 
from  Passy,  the  attitude  of  Adams  and  Lee  as  con- 
trasted with  that  of  Franklin.  Lee  found  no  difficulty 
in  influencing  Adams  in  his  hostile  and  disparaging  at- 
titude toward  Jones,  for  the  latter's  sectional  prejudice 
was  already  very  definitely  directed  against  him.  The 
New  England  statesman  consistently  resented  the  pre- 
ferment which  Jones  had  acquired  through  the  North 
Carolina  member  of  the  marine  committee,  Mr.  Hewes, 
and  referred  to  Jones  as  an  "emigrant  foreigner  from 
the  South."  Lee,  in  a  letter  to  the  committee  of  for- 
eign affairs,  entirely  omitted  to  mention  any  of  Jones's 


SIMPSON  347 

accomplishments,  and  compared  the  victorious  Ranger 
with  Conyngham's  ship,  which  the  latter  had  seen  fit 
to  withdraw  from  European  service  without  orders, 
saying  that  he  "fears  the  Ranger  will  share  the  fate 
of  the  Revenge."  He  enclosed  in  this  same  letter  a 
communication  severely  criticising  Jones,  signed  by 
the  majority  of  his  crew,  and  said  that  "the  Commis- 
sioners had  done  all  in  their  power  to  bring  him  and 
his  officers  to  order,  but  hitherto  in  vain." 

In  spite  of  this  hostility  Jones  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing favorable  relations  with  the  French  minister  of 
marine,  and  the  prospect  of  procuring  the  Amsterdam 
ship,  with  its  promise  of  an  adequate  command,  greatly 
encouraged  him.  It  had  been  reported  that  the  Indien 
was  already  in  deep  water,  and  would  be  ready  for 
service  without  delay,  but  when  the  Prince  of  Nassau 
went  to  Holland  to  take  possession  of  her,  he  found 
these  representations  unfounded.  He  reported  that  it 
would  still  be  three  months  before  the  ship  could  be 
launched,  and  also  made  known  the  objections  of  the 
Dutch  Government  to  permitting  the  ship  to  be  used 
against  England.  The  Prince  of  Nassau  was  not  of 
the  calibre  to  get  anything  done  which  required  prac- 
tical ability.  Collaterally  related  to  the  French  royal 
family,  and  possessed  of  a  restless  love  of  adventure, 
he  had  been  granted  the  opportunity  of  sailing  with 
Jones  in  the  projected  cruise,  but  the  choice  of  him  as 
a  messenger  to  the  Dutch  Government,  by  the  French 
court,  was  an  unwise  one,  and  the  negotiation,  which 
demanded  a  diplomatic  talent  far  beyond  the  capacity 
of  this  roving  paladin,  failed  of  success. 


348  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

In  later  years,  in  Russia,  Jones  was  destined  to  be 
associated  with  this  prince;  he  found  him  a  false  and 
treacherous  companion  in  arms,  and  had  great  reason 
to  regret  the  unfortunate  connection. 

The  news  of  the  engagement  of  the  Belle  Poule  with 
the  Arethusa,  with  its  indication  of  the  rapid  approach 
of  open  hostilities  between  France  and  England,  now 
further  added  to  the  embarrassment  which  the  min- 
ister was  under  at  the  reluctance  of  the  Dutch  Govern- 
ment to  release  the  Indien,  and  Jones  saw  that  he  must 
definitely  abandon  his  hopes  of  obtaining  the  vessel. 
Realizing  at  this  juncture  that  the  main  purpose  of  his 
coming  to  Europe  was  not  to  be  fulfilled,  he  now  pro- 
posed to  return  without  delay  to  America,  hoping  to 
get  the  command  of  some  one  of  the  new  ships  which 
had  been  built  by  the  home  government.  He  requested 
the  commissioners  to  permit  him  to  sail  without  delay, 
and  orders  to  that  effect  were  issued  to  him  on  the 
16th  of  June. 

Jones  now  wrote  an  admirable  letter  to  his  disaffected 
crew,  announcing  that  he  had  arranged  on  the  instant 
of  his  arrival  at  Versailles  for  the  free  sale  of  the  prizes, 
and  promising  his  homesick  men  a  speedy  return  to 
America.  He  wrote  that  he  hoped  this  good  news 
would  be  published  in  the  ship,  for  the  "general  hap- 
piness and  satisfaction/ '  and  said  that  he  would  soon 
be  able  to  convince  every  person  under  his  command 
that  he  took  "particular  pleasure  in  making  them 
rich  and  happy."  This  posture  of  affairs  was  des- 
tined, however,  to  last  but  a  few  days.  The  French 
court  again  intervened  and  requested  the  commis- 


SIMPSON  349 

sioners  to  detain  Jones  in  Europe  to  act  under  their 
orders. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  find  another  captain  for 
the  Ranger,  and  the  commissioners  decided  to  appoint 
a  Mr.  Livingston  to  take  her  back  to  America;  but 
Jones,  who  had  meanwhile  been  informed  by  his  friend 
Jonathan  Williams  that  Simpson  was  willing  to  make 
apologies  and  concessions,  and  who  never  did  things 
by  halves,  now  intervened  in  behalf  of  his  disobedient 
officer,  and  persuaded  the  commissioners  to  give  him 
the  command  of  the  ship.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  far 
more  rigorous  imprisonment  of  Simpson  had  been 
brought  about  by  the  extravagant  behavior  of  the  cul- 
prit than  had  been  originally  contemplated  by  Jones 
himself.  Placed  in  nominal  confinement  upon  the 
Drake,  and  given  a  good  state-room  and  freedom  to 
walk  the  deck,  he  had  so  increased  the  insubordination 
of  the  crew  by  his  assertions  that  Jones  was  responsible 
for  the  detention  of  their  prize-money,  that  they  again 
became  mutinous  and  disobeyed  orders  with  boldness 
and  frequency.  When  D'Orvilliers  recommended  plac- 
ing the  English  prisoners  upon  the  Drake,  it  was  nec- 
essary to  provide  other  quarters  for  Simpson,  and  he 
was  transferred  to  the  Admiral,  a  French  ship,  where 
he  was  allowed  the  same  liberties  as  before.  Here, 
however,  his  expressions  of  insubordination  were  so 
extravagant  and  surprising  to  the  French  commander, 
that  he  advised  Jones  of  the  immediate  necessity  of 
placing  him  in  close  confinement  on  shore.  In  this 
situation  Jones  paid  Simpson's  expenses  out  of  his  own 
pocket,  and  then  voluntarily  released  him  on  parole. 


350  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Influenced,  as  he  undoubtedly  was,  by  the  kindly 
counsels  of  his  friends  Franklin  and  Williams,  upon 
his  arrival  in  Passy,  and  believing  in  the  sincerity  of 
Simpson's  conciliatory  messages,  he  now  determined 
to  let  the  matter  drop  entirely,  and  wrote  as  follows  to 
the  commissioners:  "I  am  willing  to  let  the  dispute 
between  us  drop  forever,  by  giving  up  his  parole;  I 
bear  no  malice,  and  if  I  have  done  him  an  injury,  this 
will  make  him  all  present  satisfaction  in  my  power. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  injured  me,  I  will  trust  him 
for  acknowledgment." 

The  magnanimity  of  this  action  was  ill-appreciated 
by  its  recipient,  and  Jones  lived  to  bitterly  regret  his 
impulsive  confidence  and  good  nature. 

The  command  of  the  Ranger  being  now,  as  Jones  sup- 
posed, satisfactorily  arranged,  he  announced  himself 
as  ready  to  receive  the  orders  of  M.  de  Sartine,  and 
wrote  to  him  as  follows: 

Passy,  July  17th,  1778. 
M.  de  Sartinb, 

My  Lord: — 
I  should  be  ungrateful  did  I  not  return  my  thanks 
for  your  kind  and  generous  intentions  in  my  favor. 
My  greatest  ambition  would  be  to  merit  your  future 
approbation,  by  my  services  against  the  common  enemy 
of  France  and  America.  Had  your  first  plan  taken 
effect,  the  most  pleasing  prospect  of  success  would 
have  been  before  me.  But  that  now  seems  a  distant 
object. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  many  projects,  which  would 
promise  success,  might  be  formed  from  the  hints  I  had 
the  honor  of  sending  lately  for  your  inspection.    Had 


SIMPSON  351 

I  been  entrusted  with  the  chief  command,  I  would  have 
been  responsible  for  the  consequences. 

I  am  bound  in  honor  to  communicate  faithfully  to 
Congress  the  generous  offer  which  the  King  now  makes 
of  lending  the  Epervier,  in  the  meantime  to  be  em- 
ployed under  my  command  and  under  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  I  would  thankfully  have 
accepted  this  offer  the  moment  it  was  communicated 
to  me,  had  no  difficulties  have  occurred  on  account  of 
the  situation  of  the  American  funds.  I  have  now  under 
my  command  a  ship  bound  to  America.  On  my  arrival 
there,  from  the  former  confidence  of  Congress,  I  have 
reason  to  expect  an  immediate  removal  into  one  of 
their  best  ships.  I  have  reason,  also,  to  expect  the 
chief  command  of  the  first  squadron  destined  for  an 
expedition.  I  have  in  my  possession  several  similar 
appointments,  and  when  Congress  sees  fit  to  appoint 
admirals,  I  have  assurances  that  my  name  will  not  be 
forgot. 

These  are  flattering  prospects  to  a  man  who  has 
drawn  his  sword  only  from  motives  of  philanthropy, 
and  in  support  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  But, 
as  I  prefer  a  solid  to  a  shining  reputation — a  useful  to  a 
splendid  command — I  hold  myself  ready,  with  the 
approbation  of  the  American  Commissioners  at  Paris, 
to  be  governed  by  you  in  any  measures  that  may  tend 
to  distress  and  humble  the  common  enemy. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  &c. 

J.  P.  Jones. 

The  French  Government  was  now  rapidly  maturing 
plans  for  a  general  attack  upon  the  naval  forces  of 
England,  and  a  great  fleet  of  thirty  ships  of  war  was 
assembled  at  Brest,  awaiting  the  actual  declaration  of 
hostilities.    Jones  requested  to  be  permitted  to  join  the 


352  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

fleet  as  a  volunteer  under  the  command  of  his  good 
friend  Count  d'Orvilliers,  hoping  to  profit  by  the  les- 
sons in  naval  strategy  and  in  the  management  of 
large  forces,  which  D'Orvilliers  was  very  willing  to 
afford  him,  but  the  minister  replied  that,  although  the 
King  appreciated  his  offer,  his  desire  was  to  employ 
him  in  a  manner  more  useful  to  the  allied  powers. 
Jones  then,  at  Sartine's  request,  submitted  the  papers 
he  had  already  drawn  up  for  the  commissioners,  in 
which  various  plans  for  descents  upon  the  coasts  of 
England  were  laid  out: 

Plan  for  Expeditions  submitted  by  Com.  Jones  to  the 
American  Plenipotentiaries,  and  to  the  French 
Minister  of  Marine. 

Passy,  June  5,  1778. 

As  the  first  proposed  will  be  impeded  for  some  time, 
in  the  interval  a  great  variety  of  projects  present  them- 
selves, some  of  which  might  prove  of  great  utility  to 
France  and  America  by  distressing  the  common  enemy 
at  a  small  expense. 

Three  very  fast  sailing  frigates,  with  one  or  two 
tenders,  might  enter  the  Irish  Channel,  and  burn  at 
Whitehaven  from  two  to  three  hundred  ships,  besides 
the  town  which  contains  50,000  inhabitants;  this  would 
render  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  supply  Ireland 
with  coal  the  ensuing  winter. 

The  same  force  would  be  sufficient  to  take  the  bank 
of  Ayr  in  Scotland  and  destroy  the  town,  or  perhaps 
the  whole  shipping  in  the  Clyde  with  the  towns  and 
stores  of  Greenock  and  Port  Glasgow,  provided  no 
alarm  was  first  given  at  other  places.  The  fishery  at 
Cambletown  is  an  object  worthy  attention,  and  in 
some  of  the  ports  of  Ireland  ships  may  perhaps  be 


SIMPSON  353 

found  worth  from  150,000  to  200,000  L.  Sterling,  each. 

It  might  perhaps  be  equally  expedient  to  alarm 
Britain  on  the  east  side,  which  might  be  effected  with 
equal  and  perhaps  inferior  force,  by  destroying  the  coal 
shipping  of  Newcastle  &c,  which  would  occasion  the 
utmost  distress  for  fuel  in  London;  and  there  are  many 
towns  of  consequence  on  the  East  and  North  coasts  of 
England  and  Scotland  which  are  defenceless,  and  might 
be  either  burnt  or  laid  under  contribution. 

The  success  of  either  these  or  the  like  enterprises  will 
depend  on  surprising  well,  and  on  despatch  both  in  the 
attack  and  in  the  retreat;  therefore  it  is  necessary  the 
ships  should  sail  fast  and  that  their  force  should  be 
sufficient  to  repel  any  of  the  enemy's  cruising  frigates, 
two  of  which  may  perhaps  be  met  at  a  time. 

It  is  scarcely  conceivable  how  great  a  panic  the  suc- 
cess in  any  one  of  these  projects  would  occasion  in 
England.  It  would  convince  them  that  their  coasts 
are  vulnerable,  and  would  consequently  hurt  their 
public  credit. 

If  alarming  the  coast  of  Britain  should  be  thought 
inexpedient  to  intercept  the  enemy's  West  India  or 
Baltic  fleets,  or  their  Hudson  Bay  ships,  or  to  destroy 
their  Greenland  fishery  are  capital  objects,  which 
promise  success  if  well  adopted,  and  any  one  of  them 
might  be  finished  before  the  first  can  take  place. 

These  suggestions  were  received  with  favor  by  Sar- 
tine,  who  had  conceived  a  high  idea  of  Jones's  abilities 
from  his  conduct  of  the  Ranger  cruise,  and  who  was 
entirely  willing  that  French  ships  under  an  American 
flag  should  conduct  attacks  upon  the  coast  of  their 
ancient  enemy  in  a  manner  not  ordinarily  practised  in 
modern  warfare,  and  that  all  possible  and  immediate 
damage  should  be  worked  against  England  without  the 


354  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

direct  or  apparent  responsibility  of  his  government. 
M.  Baudouine,  who  was  Sartine's  personal  agent,  and 
M.  de  Chaumont,  who  offered  to  equip  the  squad- 
ron from  his  personal  resources,  assured  Jones  that  the 
three  fast-sailing  frigates  which  were  called  for  in  his 
plan  would  soon  be  at  his  disposition,  with  the  tenders 
and  the  troops  which  he  had  asked  for.  A  company 
of  soldiers  from  Captain  Walsh's  Irish  regiment  was 
detailed  to  accompany  him,  to  deliver  the  land  attacks. 

The  plans  which  Jones  had  proposed  were  so  exten- 
sive and  so  bold  in  character,  and  his  record  in  the 
execution  of  such  services  had  been  so  brilliant,  that 
the  minister  was  inclined  to  encourage  him  in  every 
possible  manner.  He  even  hinted  that  the  Indien 
might  be  spirited  away  from  Holland,  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  the  Dutch,  and  given  to  Jones  as  the 
flag-ship  of  his  future  squadron.  The  Prince  of  Nassau 
also  expressed  the  warmest  desire  to  accompany  Jones 
on  his^  daring  expedition,  and  again  proposed  to  join 
Jones  on  board  the  Indien  as  a  volunteer.  These  were 
flattering  prospects  indeed,  and  Jones's  hopes  rose  high. 
The  first  plan  decided  between  him  and  Sartine  was 
such  as  "to  astonish  the  world,"  being  nothing  less 
than  to  invade  England  itself,  to  invest  Liverpool,  and 
to  lay  the  city  under  contribution.  Every  detail  had 
been  perfected  and  nothing  was  wanting,  as  Jones 
related,  except  the  Bang's  signature,  when  rumors  of 
the  project  became  current  and  the  minister  thought  it 
prudent  to  abandon  it. 

.An  alternate  plan  proposed  by  Jones  was  now 
adopted,  namely:  to  intercept  the  Baltic  fleet,  and  it 


SIMPSON  355 

was  decided  to  put  this  project  into  execution  without 
delay,  owing  to  the  private  information  which  Jones 
had  received  from  England  as  to  the  imminent  sailing 
of  the  fleet  and  as  to  its  probable  route.  The  King 
offered  him  the  EjpervieTj  then  in  readiness  at  L'Orient, 
and  the  minister  promised  to  give  him  two  other 
frigates  with  two  cutters  then  lying  at  Saint  Malo. 

Fully  confident  that  he  was  now  about  to  be  invested 
with  an  adequate  force,  and  desirous  of  fulfilling  his 
office  as  commander-in-chief  with  fitting  dignity  and 
propriety,  Jones  now  sought  to  engage  a  chaplain  for 
his  squadron,  and  described  the  qualifications  he  de- 
sired in  a  letter  to  his  banker's  son,  Henry  Grand, 
written  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  Paris: 

I  should  wish  him  to  be  a  man  of  reading  and  let- 
ters, who  understands,  speaks  and  writes  the  French 
and  English,  with  elegance  and  propriety.  For  politi- 
cal reasons  it  would  be  well  if  he  were  a  clergyman  of 
the  Protestant  profession,  whose  sanctity  of  manners 
and  happy  natural  principles  would  diffuse  unanimity 
and  cheerfulness  throughout  the  ship,  and  if  to  these 
essentials  were  added  the  talent  of  writing  fast,  and  in 
fair  characters,  such  a  man  would  necessarily  be  wor- 
thy of  the  highest  confidence,  and  might  therefore 
assure  himself  of  a  place  at  my  table,  the  regulations  of 
which  should  be  entirely  under  his  direction. 

A  few  days  subsequent  to  this  he  wrote  the  first  of 
his  letters  to  General  Washington,  indicating  by  this 
act  his  realization  that  as  commander  of  an  important 
squadron,  awarded  him  by  the  allied  power  of  France, 
he  was  at  last  in  a  position  where  he  might  communi- 


356  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

cate  in  terms  of  compliment  with  the  head  of  the 
American  forces: 

Passy,  near  Paris,  August  Qth. 
Honoked  Sir: — 

As  the  scene  of  War  by  Sea  is  now  changing  from 
America  to  Europe,  I  have  been  induced  to  give  up 
the  command  of  the  American  ship  of  war  Ranger  and 
to  continue  for  some  time  in  Europe  in  compliance 
with  the  request  of  the  Minister  of  the  French  Marine, 
in  a  letter  to  our  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  the  Court 
of  Versailles. 

I  will  not  intrude  upon  your  Excellencies'  time  even 
by  attempting  to  pay  you  the  respect  which  you  so 
justly  command.  The  intention  of  this  letter  is  only 
to  beg  your  acceptance  of  two  Epaulettes  with  which  it 
is  accompanied,  and  which  my  friend  Mr.  Williams  of 
Nantes  has  undertaken  to  forward — I  expected  to  have 
had  the  honor  of  delivering  this  little  present  into  your 
own  hands,  but  not  having  that  satisfaction  if  in  the 
meantime  I  can  render  you  any  acceptable  services  in 
France  I  hope  you  will  command  me  without  reserve, 
being  with  sentiments  of  perfect  Esteem 

Honor'd  Sir 

Yours  &c. 
His  Excellency 

Gen.  Washington 
Commander  in  chief  of  the  American  Army,  at  his 
Headquarters. 

Jones's  agreeable  sojourn  in  Paris  was  now  about  to 
close.  He  had  been  honored  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment; he  had  successfully  arranged  for  the  sale  of  his 
prizes;  he  had  settled,  as  he  supposed,  his  difficulties 
with  Simpson  and  his  crew.    During  the  two  months 


SIMPSON  357 

of  his  stay  at  Passy,  he  was  first  a  daily  visitor  and 
afterward  an  honored  guest  in  the  house  of  the  com- 
missioners, where  the  beloved  Franklin  and  his  asso- 
ciates lived  in  friendly  and  familiar  intercourse  with 
the  family  of  their  generous  host,  M.  de  Chaumont. 

The  chateau,  then  called  the  H6tel  de  Chaumont,  was 
of  noble  construction,  castellated,  vine-embowered,  and 
commanded  a  wide  view  of  Paris  and  its  surrounding 
villages.  From  a  great  distance  the  six  towers  could 
be  seen  upon  their  hill  as  one  approached  by  a  winding 
road  leading  under  a  stone  bridge,  and  thence  through 
a  gate  into  the  walled  enclosure.  Here  Paul  Jones  and 
Jonathan  Williams,  Franklin  and  Doctor  Bancroft, 
John  Adams,  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  his  wife  and 
daughter,  and  her  two  young  brothers,  must  often  have 
met  during  those  summer  days  in  the  garden  which 
spread  between  the  "petit  h6tel"  of  the  commissioners 
and  the  "grand  h6tel"  of  their  host,  and  these  periods 
of  youthful  ardor,  of  rising  glory,  of  intimate  associa- 
tion with  the  friends  of  the  new  republic,  must  always 
have  remained  in  the  memory  of  Paul  Jones  as  one  of 
almost  unalloyed  delight  and  satisfaction.  A  gallant 
figure  himself,  with  his  honors  fresh  upon  him,  he  was 
treated  with  distinction  by  the  statesmen  and  soldiers 
who  gathered  about  Franklin  in  his  retreat  at  Passy.1 

1  Nathaniel  Fanning,  who  was  afterward  distinguished  for  his  intrepid 
and  most  successful  conduct  of  the  battle  from  "the  tops"  in  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  engagement,  has  left  an  agreeable  account  of  his 
reception  by  Franklin,  at  Passy,  and  a  description  of  the  mansion  of 
the  commissioners. 

"It  was  on  the  26th  day  of  July,  1783,  at  night,  when  I  arrived  at 
the  city  of  Paris,  and  the  next  day  I  visited  and  paid  my  respects  to 
Dr.  Franklin  who  then  resided  at  a  small  village  situated  upon  an  emi- 
nence between  Paris  and  Versailles,  which  commands  a  prospect  delight- 


358  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Franklin  took  pleasure  in  making  him  known  to  his 
powerful  friends,  and  took  him  to  the  hotel  of  the  good 
Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld  and  recommended  him  to  the 
favor  of  the  philanthropist  and  philosopher  who  then 
dignified  that  historic  name.  M.  de  Chaumont  and  his 
family  were  exceedingly  attentive  to  the  young  Ameri- 
can officer,  and  received  him  on  terms  of  the  greatest 
intimacy,  and  Madame  de  Chaumont  and  her  young 
daughter  conceived  the  warmest  admiration  for  him. 
Already  known  and  cordially  received  by  the  Due 
de  Chartres  upon  the  flag-ship  of  the  French  fleet  at 
Brest,  Jones  had  been  given  letters  by  that  attractive 
and  ill-starred  prince  of  the  Orleans  family,  which  had 
procured  him  an  introduction  to  the  Duchesse  de  Char- 
tres and  a  favorable  reception  at  the  Palais  Royal  and 

fully  pleasing  to  the  eye.  This  pleasant  village  is  called  Passy.  Three 
miles  distant  from  Paris,  and  about  six  from  Versailles.  The  building 
in  which  the  Doctor  resides  with  his  secretaries,  is  a  noble  piece  of 
modern  architecture,  large  and  commodious,  and  adjoining  which  is  a 
beautiful  garden.  From  this  village  may  be  seen  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  city  of  Paris,  and  its  suburbs,  and  nearly  three  hundred  walled 
towns,  besides  a  great  number  of  noblemens'  villas,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  so  many  palaces  and  country  seats  scattered  over  the 
country  as  far  as  you  can  extend  the  eye.  Dr.  Franklin  received  me 
without  any  ceremony,  but  with  the  kindness  of  a  parent,  and  in  this 
way  he  conducted  himself  toward  all  Americans,  whom  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  calling  his  children.  I  found  in  company  with  him  the  Marquis 
de  Lafayette  and  several  other  gentlemen,  and  as  soon  as  they  were 
gone  (which  was  in  about  a  half  an  hour  after  my  arrival)  the  Doctor 
asked  me  to  follow  him  into  his  study,  and  after  being  seated,  he  held  a 
long  conversation  with  me  upon  different  subjects,  and  when  I  was 
about  leaving  him,  he  invited  me  to  call  and  see  him  often  and  gave  me 
good  advice  relative  to  the  conduct  which  I  ought  to  observe  while  I 
resided  at  Paris,  and  in  the  same  familiar  style  as  though  he  had  been 
my  father,  and  for  which  I  shall  always  revere  him  as  long  as  I  live. 
At  this  time  Dr.  Franklin  was  highly  esteemed  not  only  by  the  French, 
but  by  all  the  foreign  ministers  resident  at  the  court  of  France,  and 
his  levee,  for  numbers  and  respectability,  every  day  exceeded  that  of 
the  Count  de  Vergennes,  the  King's  favorite,  and  the  American  peoples' 
friend." 


SIMPSON  359 

at  Versailles.  The  extreme  grace  and  amiability  of  the 
Duchesse  de  Chartres,  who  was  a  daughter  of  the  Due 
de  Penthievre,  and  a  princess  of  the  royal  house,  never 
failed  to  impress  the  most  distant  of  her  acquaintances. 
By  her  beauty  and  elegance  and  her  exalted  rank  she 
was  the  very  "glass  of  fashion,  and  the  mould  of  form/' 
but  she  was  far  more  remarkable  for  the  ideal  distinc- 
tion of  her  character  and  the  purity  and  gentleness  of 
her  mind.  At  the  time  when  Paul  Jones  was  received 
at  the  Palais  Royal  the  well-known  adoration  of  the 
duchess  for  her  husband  was  still  undimmed  by  either 
his  infidelities  or  his  crimes.  The  afterward  notorious 
Philippe  Egalit6  was  still  in  the  eyes  of  his  brilliant 
world  a  gallant  prince  and  trusted  servant  of  France. 
He  was  at  this  moment  in  command  of  a  portion  of  the 
great  French  fleet  of  D'Orvilliers,  then  assembled  at 
Brest  and  about  to  engage  England  on  the  sea  and 
dispute  her  ancient  sovereignty.  As  the  bearer  of  let- 
ters to  the  duchess  from  her  husband,  Paul  Jones 
could  not  fail  of  a  condescending  and  amiable  reception. 
The  duchess  honored  him  and  his  friend  Williams  with 
marked  attention  whenever  the  two  young  Americans 
attended  her  levees,  and  intrusted  Jones  with  letters 
in  reply  to  the  duke  when  he  finally  departed  for  Brest. 
All  royalist  sentiment  was  silenced  in  the  chorus  of 
enthusiasm  for  the  new  republican  ideas.  The  king's 
hesitations  were  overcome,  and  Marie  Antoinette,  in  a 
hopeless  minority,  saw  the  policy  of  the  cabinet  prevail 
over  her  protests.1 

1  Extract  from  the  diary  of  Mercy  Argenteau:  "The  silent  unready 
Louis  did  not  easily  discuss  anything,  Maurepas  was  therefore  able  to 
continue  his  policy  of  fostering  republican  sentiments,  without  any 


360  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

A  soldier  of  liberty  himself,  Paul  Jones  was  exqui- 
sitely flattered  by  the  attentions  of  these  liberty-loving 
aristocrats  of  France,  whose  enthusiasms  were  so  con- 
sonant with  his  own.  The  gardener's  son  can  scarcely 
be  censured  for  his  delight  in  that  unequalled  society 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  brought  to  the  last  point  of 
its  perfection  and  still  happily  unconscious  of  its  ap- 
proaching fall. 

It  is  significant  to  observe  that,  in  the  midst  of  the 
pleasures  and  honors  which  he  received,  Jones's  last 
act  before  departing  from  Paris  was  to  leave  a  for- 
mal written  request  with  the  commissioners  to  fulfil 
their  promise  of  recommending  the  officers  and  crew  of 
the  Ranger  to  the  favor  of  Congress.  This  done,  he 
started  for  the  sea-coast  on  the  7th,  and  after  visiting 
L'Orient  to  view  the  frigate  Epervier,  which  Sartine  had 
promised  him  as  the  flag-ship  of  his  future  squadron, 
he  reached  Brest  on  the  10th  of  August,  but  was  met 
on  the  moment  of  his  arrival  with  the  most  disappoint- 
ing intelligence.  His  good  old  friend  Count  d'Orvil- 
liers,  who  ran  to  embrace  him  in  his  garden,  when  Jones, 
as  was  his  custom,  sought  him  out  upon  his  return, 
informed  him  that  he  himself  had  given  the  Epervier 
away  to  one  of  his  own  captains  who  had  lately  lost 
his  ship.  Count  d'Orvilliers  informed  him,  also,  with 
reluctance,  that  orders  had  been  issued  by  the  minister 
immediately  after  Jones's  departure  from  Paris  for  the 

question  as  to  the  ultimate  end,  from  the  sharp  witted  Imperialist  Marie 
Antoinette.  Lafayette  was  in  Paris,  and  Paul  Jones  the  buccaneer,  and 
great  swelling  plans  of  an  expedition  against  England  were  fermenting. 
Paul  Jones  the  Scottish  corsair  was  born  at  Selkirk  in  1736  and  his 
name  spread  terror  in  all  the  seaports  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland." 


SIMPSON  361 

frigates  at  Saint  Malo  to  sail  at  once  on  the  errand 
of  intercepting  the  Baltic  fleet. 

An  unwise  decision  this  afterward  proved,  for  the 
French  commanders,  less  accurately  informed  than 
Jones  as  to  the  probable  route  of  the  English  ships, 
failed  to  overtake  them,  and  thus  the  favorite  plan  of 
the  commissioners  failed  of  success.  Jones  now  found 
himself  actually  without  a  ship:  the  Ranger  had  been 
given  away  to  his  disobedient  first  lieutenant,  the 
promised  squadron  of  Sartine  had  slipped  away  before 
he  had  even  had  a  sight  of  it,  and  he  was  forced  again 
to  bear  the  heaviest  disappointment  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  his  fond  dream  of  an  important  command 
seemed  about  to  be  realized. 

From  this  time  on  until  the  spring  of  the  following 
year  Jones  was  subjected  to  repeated  postponement  of 
his  hopes  and  condemned  to  the  torture  of  inactivity. 
The  determining  reasons  for  this,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  surprising  refusal  of  his  bill  by  the  commissioners, 
were  not  primarily  personal,  but  were  the  result  of  the 
course  of  more  important  affairs  pertaining  to  the  war 
which  had  now  openly  broken  out  between  France 
and  England. 

The  brilliant  action  of  the  Belle  Poule  with  the  Eng- 
lish Arethusa,  in  which  the  French  ship  had  come  off 
triumphant,  had  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm  in 
France  and  raised  the  hopes  of  the  nation  in  the  re- 
habilitated navy.  The  English  court,  tardily  awaken- 
ing to  the  world-wide  results  which  their  oppression  of 
the  American  colonies  was  bringing  upon  them  in  an 
almost  universal  European  war,  sought  to  ignore  this 


362  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

engagement  and  to  excuse  the  depredations  made  by 
their  ships  upon  the  commerce  of  France  by  various 
temporizing  pretences.  The  French  court,  however, 
considered  the  withdrawal  of  the  English  ambassador 
from  Paris  and  the  message  of  George  III  to  his  Parlia- 
ment resenting  the  insult  of  the  treaty  of  alliance 
between  France  and  America  to  have  definitely  an- 
nounced the  belligerent  attitude  of  England,  and  pro- 
ceeded with  all  speed  to  prepare  for  war. 

The  almost  complete  destruction  of  the  French  naval 
forces  in  the  Seven  Years'  War  had  resulted  in  a  deter- 
mined demand  from  the  entire  French  nation  for  the 
restoration  of  the  navy.  Under  ChoiseuTs  direction 
this  policy  had  been  begun  and  most  generously  sub- 
sidized by  public  and  private  contributions.  A  pro- 
digious activity  sprang  up  in  the  lately  silent  ports, 
and  everywhere  ships  were  building  and  repairing. 
Under  Sartine,  who  had  been  promoted  to  the  post 
of  minister  of  marine  as  a  result  of  his  brilliant  suc- 
cess in  reforming  the  police  regulations  of  Paris,  the 
construction  of  new  battle-ships  was  actively  pursued, 
and  when  the  war  was  finally  begun,  at  the  battle  off 
Ushant,  on  July  the  29th,  1778,  the  French  force  under 
D'Orvilliers  had  thirty  ships  of  the  line  to  meet  an 
equal  number  under  Keppel.  This  conflict,  ill-managed 
on  both  sides,  was  barren  of  results.  No  ships  were 
taken  or  destroyed,  and  both  fleets,  after  a  bloodless 
engagement,  returned  intact  to  their  respective  ports. 
The  signals  of  Admiral  Keppel,  who  commanded  the 
English  fleet,  being  disregarded  by  Palliser,  the  plan 
of  the  battle  failed  of  execution,  and  Palliser  later 


SIMPSON  363 

brought  capital  charges  against  his  superior  officer. 
Amid  a  storm  of  excitement  and  fury  over  the  indeci- 
sive engagement,  the  court-martial  over  Keppel  was 
held,  with  the  result  that  he  was  triumphantly  ac- 
quitted and  restored  to  an  almost  unexampled  popu- 
larity, while  Palliser,  by  a  narrow  vote,  escaped  with 
his  life  at  a  similar  trial,  but  not  without  the  execra- 
tion of  the  public.  The  Due  de  Chartres,  who  had  also 
disregarded  the  signals  of  his  commanding  officer,  and 
thus  brought  about  the  failure  of  Count  d'Orvilliers's 
plan  of  the  engagement,  was  bitterly  criticised  through- 
out the  kingdom,  and  his  name  became  a  byword  for 
incapacity.  This  singular  engagement,  celebrated  for 
its  futility,  had  just  taken  place,  before  Jones  arrived 
at  Brest,  and  he  found  his  friend  the  Due  de  Chartres 
in  considerable  distress  of  mind,  and  D'Orvilliers  again 
ready  to  sail  and  eager  to  retrieve  the  ill-success  of  the 
first  encounter  with  England. 

D'Orvilliers  realized  that  it  would  be  exceedingly 
difficult,  now  that  war  had  actually  begun,  for  Sar- 
tine  to  divert  any  considerable  force  from  the  French 
officers  who  were  now  clamoring  for  ships.  He  there- 
fore invited  Jones  with  much  cordiality  to  accompany 
him  on  his  next  cruise  on  the  Bretagne,  his  flag-ship, 
and  a  request  was  forthwith  despatched  to  Sartine 
for  the  requisite  permission.  An  unaccountable  delay 
and  misapprehension  occurred  in  this  negotiation.  The 
minister  sent  the  permission  with  Franklin's  concur- 
rence, but  it  failed  to  arrive  in  time,  and  D'Orvilliers 
sailed  away  without  Jones,  who  was  much  chagrined 
at  this  second  disappointment.    His  natural  irritation 


364  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

at  this  enforced  inaction  was  further  increased  by  re- 
ports emanating  from  the  ungrateful  Simpson  to  the 
effect  that  Jones  had  been  deprived  of  the  command 
of  the  Ranger  by  order  of  the  commissioners.  In  this 
situation  he  immediately  took  steps  to  convene  a  court- 
martial  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  Simpson  to  trial, 
and  appealed  for  support  and  redress  to  the  commis- 
sioners. "I  have  been  five  days  in  this  place,"  he 
wrote  on  August  the  15th,  "since  my  return  from 
Passy,  during  which  time  I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard 
of  Lieutenant  Simpson;  but  Mr.  Hill,  who  was  last 
winter  at  Passy,  and  who  sailed  with  us  from  Nantes, 
informed  me  truly  that  it  is  generally  reported  in  the 
Ranger  and  of  course  throughout  the  French  fleet,  and 
on  shore,  that  I  am  turned  out  of  the  service;  that  you 
gentlemen  have  given  Mr.  Simpson  my  place  with  a 
Captain's  commission,  and  that  my  letter  to  you  was 
involuntary  on  my  part,  and  in  obedience  only  to  your 
order,  to  avert  dreadful  consequences  to  myself.  That 
these  reports  prevail  is  not  an  idle  grounded  conjecture, 
but  a  melancholy  fact,  therefore  I  beseech  you,  I  con- 
jure you,  I  demand  of  you  to  afford  me  redress  by  a 
court  martial,  to  form  which  we  have,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Captain  Hinman,  a  sufficient  number  of  officers 
in  France,  exclusive  of  myself.  The  Providence  and 
Boston  are  expected  here  very  soon,  and  I  am  certain 
that  they  neither  can  nor  will  depart  again  before  my 
friend  Captain  Hinman  can  come  down  here,  and  it  is 
his  unquestioned  right  to  succeed  me  in  the  command 
of  the  Ranger. " 
The  commissioners  replied  to  this  appeal  by  return 


SIMPSON  365 

post,  authorizing  Jones  to  call  a  court-martial  in  case 
sufficient  officers  could  be  procured,  but  directed  that 
no  change  should  be  contemplated  in  the  command  of 
the  Ranger.  Jones  soon  discovered  that  he  was  mis- 
taken in  believing  that  a  requisite  number  of  officers 
could  be  found  to  form  the  court.  On  the  18th  he 
wrote  a  peremptory  command  to  Captain  Whipple  of 
the  Providence,  who  was  then  in  the  port  of  Brest,  to 
immediately  summon  the  court-martial  on  board  his 
ship;  but  Whipple  replied,  after  due  consideration, 
that,  as  Captain  Hinman  refused  to  serve  since  he  was 
expected  to  face  a  court-martial  himself  on  his  return 
to  America,  it  was  impossible  to  convene  the  court. 
He  also  advanced  other  reasons  for  his  disapprobation 
of  the  court-martial,  saying  that,  as  Jones  had  actually 
given  up  Simpson's  parole,  he  believed  that  Simpson 
was  no  longer  subject  to  a  trial,  and  that  he,  Whipple, 
had  been  informed  that  the  commissioners  held  the 
same  opinion.  Jones,  with  natural  irritation,  took 
occasion  to  remind  Whipple  of  his  testimony  in  his 
favor  when  Whipple  was  tried  for  cowardice  in  the 
affair  of  the  Glasgow.  Whipple  then  hastened  to  re- 
move himself  and  the  ship  under  his  command  to  Cam- 
meret,  and  thence  to  sea. 

Jones  now  penned  an  exceedingly  elaborate  account 
of  his  troubles  with  Simpson,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
service  on  the  Ranger,  and  sent  it  off  to  the  commis- 
sioners. He  recounted  his  many  acts  of  conciliation, 
his  patience  and  forbearance  with  this  hopelessly  recal- 
citrant and  inefficient  officer,  and  then  he  abandoned 
all  further  thought  of  redress,  and  dismissed  the  matter 


366  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

from  his  mind.  At  a  later  date  the  commissioners 
wrote  a  formal  letter  to  Jones,  clearing  him  from  Simp- 
son's insinuations  and  false  representations. 

Passy,  February  10, 1779. 
Sir:— 

As  your  separation  from  the  Ranger  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  Lieutenant  Simpson  to  the  command  of  her 
will  be  liable  to  misinterpretations  by  persons  who  are 
unacquainted  with  the  real  cause  of  those  facts,  we 
hereby  certify  that  your  leaving  the  Ranger  was  by 
our  consent,  at  the  express  request  of  his  Excellency 
Monsieur  de  Sartine,  who  informed  us  that  he  had 
occasion  to  employ  you  in  some  public  service;  that 
Lieutenant  Simpson  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  Ranger  with  your  consent,  after  having  consented  to 
release  him  from  an  arrest  under  which  you  had  put  him. 

That  your  leaving  the  Ranger,  in  our  opinion,  ought 
not,  and  cannot  be  an  injury  to  your  rank  or  character 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States;  and  that  your  com- 
mission in  their  navy  continues  in  full  force. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc. 

B.  Franklin 
John  Adams. 

A  few  days  after  Whipple's  departure  the  Ranger  also 
sailed  away,  her  crew  refusing,  as  usual,  to  obey  orders, 
and  casting  Jones's  effects  ashore  to  lie  broken  in  the 
dust,  as  a  last  compliment  to  their  captain  who  had  led 
them  to  victory  and  recommended  them  to  the  favor 
of  Congress. 

An  indignant  letter  from  Jonathan  Williams,  written 
a  few  days  after  Simpson's  departure,  expressed  great 
regret  that  he  should  have  influenced  Jones  to  give  up 


SIMPSON  367 

Simpson's  parole,  as  well  as  his  chagrin  that  Simpson 
had  gotten  away  before  he,  Williams,  could  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  facing  him  with  his  own  letter  ac- 
knowledging his  gratitude  to  Jones  for  his  favorable 
recommendations  to  the  commissioners.  Simpson  had 
openly  denied  having  made  use  of  any  such  expression 
to  Williams.  The  duplicity  of  character  thus  indicated 
amply  justified  Jones's  ill-opinion  of  his  insubordinate 
and  ungrateful  officer,  and  further  evidence  of  the 
justness  of  this  opinion  was  afterward  supplied  by 
Simpson's  later  record.  He  was  relieved  from  his  com- 
mand soon  after  his  return  to  America,  and  never  after- 
ward employed  in  the  United  States  navy.  The  venial- 
minded  crew  of  the  Ranger  also  fully  justified  the 
opinion  their  too  enterprising  captain  had  formed  of 
them,  for  without  exception  they  all  abandoned  the 
service  of  the  government  and  adopted  the  more  lucra- 
tive occupation  of  privateering  immediately  upon  their 
return  to  Portsmouth. 

A  cooler-headed  and  less  ardently  ambitious  officer 
than  Paul  Jones  might  easily  have  yielded  to  irritation 
if  hampered  with  such  rank  insubordination  and  small- 
mindedness,  and  insubordination  was  not  the  only 
difficulty  with  which  he  was  forced  to  deal.  The 
ignorance,  carelessness,  and  malicious  jealousy  of  other 
American  officers  in  Europe  likewise  tormented  him. 
Captain  Whipple  permitted  the  escape  of  several  of 
Jones's  prisoners  and  released  others  on  parole  without 
his  knowledge,  and  to  his  horror  and  dismay  Jones 
learned  by  a  chance  meeting  with  a  French  officer  that 
the  guard  of  French  soldiers  which  D'Orvilliers  had 


368  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

generously  placed  over  them  had  been  removed,  and 
that  they  might  all  escape  at  any  moment.  He  wrote 
in  frantic  haste  to  the  commissioners,  but  wisely  re- 
frained from  waiting  for  their  reply,  and  secured  an- 
other guard  from  the  French  intendant  of  the  marine 
at  Brest.  The  Ranger' 's  prize,  the  Lord  Chatham,  was 
sold  without  his  knowledge,  and  the  Drake  plundered 
with  impunity.  He  commented  with  his  usual  force 
upon  these  outrages  in  letters  to  his  friends,  but  was 
not  distracted  from  the  one  burning  preoccupation  of 
his  days  and  sleepless  nights,  which  was  to  force  the 
French  minister  to  fulfil  his  promise  to  give  him  an- 
other command. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND 

In  the  voluminous  correspondence  which  belongs  to  the 
five  months  which  followed  Paul  Jones's  departure 
from  Paris  his  biographer  is  furnished  with  an  almost 
daily  record  of  his  days  and  a  clear  and  intimate 
picture  of  his  mind  and  character.  That  inflexible  de- 
termination to  succeed  in  spite  of  every  obstacle  which 
had  won  him  every  advancement  in  his  career  is  here 
most  vividly  disclosed. 

The  letters  which  he  sent  out  to  every  important 
individual  of  his  acquaintance  grew  from  dignified 
remonstrance  into  agonized  appeals  for  release  from 
his  intolerable  situation.  Inaction  was  literally  de- 
structive to  him,  and  the  prolonged  torture  had  a  most 
acute  effect  upon  his  health.  Once  more  he  was  called 
upon  to  experience  the  plunge  from  high  hopes  to  un- 
merited misfortune  which  was  so  singular  a  part  of 
his  remarkable  life.  The  bearer  of  the  new  flag  of 
freedom,  the  valorous  captor  of  the  Drake,  who  in 
former  times  had  found  Brest  a  port  of  pleasure,  where 
he  had  dined  familiarly  with  titled  officers  of  rank  and 
had  been  the  universal  object  of  praise,  now  found  him- 
self alone,  except  for  Lieutenant  Amiel,  who,  as  he 
expressed  it,  "had  exercised  patience  with  him  for  four 
months  in  this  detested  spot,  without  society  or  hos- 
pitality." Keenly  conscious  of  his  inability  to  dispel 
the  prevalent  impression  that  he  had  offended  the 

369 


370  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

commissioners  and  was  an  officer  in  disgrace,  he  was 
reluctant  to  walk  abroad.  Under  these  circumstances 
he  became,  as  was  his  custom  during  his  periods  of 
inactivity,  reserved  and  silent,  "taciturn,"  as  the  un- 
lucky companion  of  his  misfortunes  complained  in  let- 
ters to  his  wife.  So  the  Chase  narrative  describes  him 
when  tortured  by  his  longing  for  action,  and  so  Andr6, 
his  last  companion  and  secretary,  related  that  he  had 
again  become  during  the  closing  days  of  his  life. 

On  taking  leave  of  Franklin  in  Paris  he  had  received 
permission  to  write  to  him  frequently,  and  the  promise 
of  prompt  replies;  but,  fearing  to  be  troublesome  to  his 
venerable  friend,  he  wrote  long  letters  to  Doctor  Ban- 
croft, relying  on  him  to  present  his  case  to  Franklin 
and  to  M.  de  Chaumont.  On  the  24th  of  August  he 
wrote  to  Bancroft,  saying  that  a  French  frigate,  the 
Renommee,  was  still  without  a  commander,  and  begging 
him  to  ask  M.  de  Chaumont  to  procure  it  from  Sartine. 
On  the  same  day  he  wrote  briefly  to  Franklin,  urging 
that  at  "this  nice  moment  he  should  either  be  in  search 
of  marine  knowledge,  or  of  honor  in  some  private  enter- 
prise.,,  In  this  very  restrained  and  respectful  letter  he 
enclosed  another  which  he  had  prepared  for  the  Prince 
of  Nassau,  with  whom  he  had  expected  to  be  associated 
in  the  cruise  with  his  vanished  squadron,  for  his  inspec- 
tion and  approval: 

Brest,  August  24,  1778. 
My  Prince: — 

The  Honor  which  you  propose  to  do  me  by  accom- 
panying me  on  the  Ocean  fills  my  heart  with  the 
warmest  Sentiments  of  Gratitude. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  371 

When  your  intentions  were  communicated  to  me  I 
had  under  my  Command  a  Ship  bound  in  company 
with  two  fine  Frigates  for  America  where  there  is  now 
two  new  Ships  of  80  Guns  each  and  8  Frigates  of  40 
Guns  each  nearly  ready  for  Sea. 

On  my  arrival  there  from  the  former  confidence  of 
Congress  I  had  assurance  of  an  immediate  removal  into 
one  of  their  best  ships  and  to  have  been  Appointed  to 
Command  the  first  Squadron  which  they  thought  fit 
to  destine  for  any  private  Expedition — Before  I  came 
to  Europe  I  had  been  honored  with  several  such  Ap- 
pointments— and  I  had  Assurance  that  when  America 
saw  fit  to  appoint  Admirals,  my  name  should  be 
Numerated. — 

These  my  Prince  were  flattering  prospects  to  a  man 
who  drew  his  sword  only  from  Principles  of  Philan- 
throphy,  in  Support  of  the  Dignity  of  Human  Nature. — 
And  these  are  the  prospects  which  I  have  Voluntarily 
laid  aside  that  I  may  pursue  Glory  in  your  Company. 

Suffer  me  not  therefore  I  beseech  you  to  continue 
longer  in  this  shameful  inactivity — such  dishonor  is 
worse  to  me  than  a  thousand  deaths. — I  have  already 
lost  that  Golden  Season  the  Summer  which  in  War  is 
of  more  value  than  all  the  Rest  of  the  Year — I  appear 
here  as  a  Person  cast  off  and  useless  and  when  any 
person  asks  me  what  I  purpose  to  do,  I  am  unable  to 
Answer. 

Had  this  been  my  first  or  second  disappointment  I 
should  have  said  nothing  concerning  it — but  after  vari- 
ous other  objects  had  miscarried  before  I  left  Passy, 
which  M.  de  Sartine  had  thought  of  to  keep  me 
employed  until  the  scheme  wherein  you  were  con- 
cerned could  take  place — I  was  ordered  down  here  at 
so  short  a  notice  that  I  had  not  time  before  my  de- 
parture to  take  leave  of  you;  yet  on  my  arrival  here  I 
found  that  what  had  been  proposed  for  me  was  be- 


372  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

stowed  on  others. — I  then  offered  to  follow  Count 
D'Orvilliers  as  a  Volunteer  agreeable  to  his  kind  invita- 
tion— but  Mons.  De  la  Prevalaye  will  not  even  permit 
me  to  do  this,  it  not  being  mentioned  in  his  Orders  — 

I  have  my  Prince  been  unaccustomed  to  ask  any 
favors  even  from  Congress — for  I  am  not  in  pursuit  of 
Interest — Yet  let  me  beseech  you  to  represent  my 
Situation  to  the  best  of  Kings — that  I  may  with  you 
be  forthwith  enabled  to  pursue  Glory  and  to  humble 
the  Common  Enemies  of  Humanity. 

If  the  Ship  that  was  at  first  proposed  cannot  with 
certainty  be  got  to  Sea  next  month  you,  my  Prince,  can 
obtain  another  with  the  Epervier  and  Alert  tenders — 
There  is  a  fine  Frigate  at  I/Orient  built  on  the  same 
construction  with  the  Ship  at  first  proposed  and 
mounted  with  eighteen  pounders — this  Ship  has  been 
at  India,  is  known  to  sail  fast  and  might  perhaps  be 
obtained  'till  it  is  seen  whether  the  other  can  be  got 
out. — 

If  this  Ship  is  refused  there  are  many  other  fine 
Frigates  newly  built  at  St.  Malo's  and  other  places  to 
which  I  hear  of  no  Commanders  being  appointed — I 
have  the  greatest  dependence  on  the  generous  inten- 
tions of  that  great  Minister  Monseig'r  de  Sartine,  but  I 
cannot  every  day  intrude  on  him  with  letters  and  in 
the  Multiplicity  and  importance  of  his  Affairs — my 
Concerns  may  escape  his  Memory. — 

I  wish  for  the  honor  of  a  letter  from  your  hand — 
tho'  I  cannot  write  to  you  in  French  yet  I  understand 
letters  that  are  written  on  that  Language — and  I  have 
now  with  me  a  Lieutenant  who  speaks  it  well. — 

I  am  with  Sentiments  of  real  Esteem  and  Respect 

My  Prince, 
Yours  &c. 
His  Highness 

The  Prince  de  Nassau 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  373 

A  week  later,  without  news  from  any  quarter,  he 
wrote  again  to  the  prince  and  to  Bancroft,  saying  that 
he  was  "to  the  last  degree  unhappy.' '  The  Prince  of 
Nassau  never  replied  to  Jones's  appeal,  but  after  a  few 
days  a  friendly  letter  arrived  from  Franklin,  explaining 
that  Bancroft's  silence  was  due  to  illness,  and  exhorting 
him  to  have  patience.  By  the  11th  of  September  he 
had  become  very  impatient  and  wrote  to  his  friend 
Williams  a  free  expression  of  his  feelings,  saying  that 
if  the  next  post  brought  him  nothing  definite  he 
would  tell  the  dilatory  minister  "a  round  unvarnished 
tale."  This  with  his  characteristic  directness  he  pro- 
ceeded to  do  in  the  following  explicit  presentation  of 
his  situation: 

Brest,  13th  September  1778. 
Honored  Sir: — 

When  his  Excellency  Doctor  Franklin  first  informed 
me  that  You  had  condescended  to  think  me  worthy  of 
your  Notice,  I  took  such  pleasure  in  reflecting  on  the 
happy  Alliance  between  France  and  America  that  I 
was  really  flattered,  and  entertained  the  most  Grateful 
sense  of  the  Honor  which  you  proposed  for  me,  as  well 
as  of  the  favor  which  the  King  proposed  for  America; 
by  putting  so  fine  a  Ship  of  War  as  the  Indien  under  my 
command  and  under  its  Flag  with  unlimited  Orders. — 

In  obedience  to  your  desire  I  came  to  Versailles,  and 
was  taught  to  believe  that  my  intended  Ship  was  in 
Deep  Water  and  ready  for  the  Sea. — But  when  the 
Prince  returned,  I  received  from  him  a  different  ac- 
count; I  was  told  that  the  Indien  could  not  be  got 
afloat  within  a  shorter  period  than  three  months,  at 
the  first  approaching  Equinox. — 

To  employ  this  interval  usefully,  I  first  offered  to  go 


374  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

from  Brest  with  Count  D'Orvilliers  as  a  volunteer — 
which  you  thought  fit  to  reject — I  had  then  the  satis- 
faction to  find  that  You  approved  in  general  of  a 
variety  of  hints  for  private  enterprises  which  I  had 
drawn  up  for  your  Consideration;  and  I  was  flattered 
with  assurances  from  Messrs.  de  Chaumont  and  Bau- 
douine  that  three  of  the  finest  Frigates  in  France  with 
two  Tenders  and  a  number  of  Troops  should  be  imme- 
diately put  under  my  Command,  and  that  I  should 
have  unlimited  Orders  and  be  at  the  liberty  to  pursue 
such  of  my  own  projects  as  I  thought  proper. — But 
this  plan  fell  to  nothing  in  the  moment  when  I  was 
taught  to  think  that  nothing  was  wanting  but  the 
King's  signature. — 

Another  much  inferior  Armament  from  L'Orient  was 
proposed  to  be  put  under  my  command,  which  was  by 
no  means  equal  to  the  Services  that  were  expected 
from  it;  for  Speed  and  Force,  though  both  requisite, 
were  both  wanting; — Happily  for  me  this  also  failed — 
and  I  was  thereby  saved  from  a  dreadful  prospect  of 
Ruin  and  Dishonor. 

I  had  so  entire  a  reliance  that  You  would  desire 
nothing  of  me  inconsistent  with  my  honor  and  rank, 
that  the  moment  you  required  me  to  come  down  here 
in  Order  to  proceed  round  to  St.  Malo; — tho'  I  had 
received  no  written  orders,  and  neither  know  Your 
intention  respecting  my  destination  or  Command;  I 
obeyed  with  such  haste  that  altho'  my  curiosity  led 
me  to  look  at  the  Armament  at  L'orient;  Yet  I  was 
but  three  days  from  Passy  'till  I  reached  Brest. — Here 
too  I  drew  a  blank. — 

But  when  I  saw  the  Lively  it  was  no  disappointment; 
as  that  Ship  both  in  sailing  and  equipment  is  far  inferior 
to  the  Ranger. — 

My  only  disappointment  here  was  my  being  pre- 
cluded from  Embarking  in  pursuit  of  Marine  Knowl- 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  375 

edge  with  Count  D'Orvilliers;  who  did  not  sail  till  seven 
days  after  my  return. — He  is  my  friend,  and  often  ex- 
pressed his  wish  for  my  Company. — I  accompanied 
him  out  of  the  Road  when  the  Fleet  sailed;  and  he 
always  lamented  that  neither  himself  nor  any  person 
in  Authority  in  Brest  had  received  from  you  any  Order 
that  mentioned  my  Name; — I  am  astonished  therefore 
to  be  informed  that  you  attributed  my  not  being  in  the 
Fleet  to  my  stay  at  L'Orient. 

I  am  not  a  mere  adventurer  of  fortune. — Stimulated 
by  Principles  of  Reason  and  Philanthropy,  I  laid  aside 
my  enjoyments  in  private  life,  and  embarked  under  the 
Flag  of  America  when  it  was  first  displayed. — In  that 
line  my  desire  of  Fame  is  Infinite;  and  I  must  not  now 
so  far  forget  my  Honor  and  what  I  owe  to  my  friends 
and  America  as  to  remain  inactive. 

My  Rank  knows  no  superior  in  the  American  Marine ; 
I  have  long  since  been  appointed  to  Command  an  ex- 
pedition with  five  of  its  Ships;  and  I  can  receive  orders 
from  no  Junior  or  Inferior  Officer  whatever. 

I  have  been  here  in  the  most  tormenting  Suspense 
for  more  than  a  month  since  my  return — and  agree- 
able to  your  desire  as  mentioned  to  me  by  Monsieur 
de  Chaumont  a  Lieutenant  has  been  appointed  and 
is  with  me,  who  speaks  the  French  as  well  as  the 
English. 

Circular  letters  have  been  written  and  sent  the  8th  of 
last  month  from  the  English  Admiralty — because  they 
expected  me  to  pay  another  visit  with  four  Ships — 
Therefore  I  trust  that  if  the  Indien  is  not  to  be  got  out, 
you  will  not  at  the  approaching  Season  substitute  a 
Force  that  is  not  at  least  equal  both  in  Strength  and 
Sailing  to  any  of  the  Enemies  Cruising  Ships. 

I  do  not  wish  to  interfere  with  the  Harmony  of  the 
French  Marine,  but  if  I  am  still  thought  worthy  of 
your  Attention,  I  shall  hope  for  a  separate  Command 


376  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

with  liberal  Orders. — If  on  the  Contrary  You  should 
have  no  further  occasion  for  my  Services;  the  only 
favor  I  can  ask  is  that  You  will  give  me  the  Alert  with 
a  few  Seamen,  and  permit  me  to  return  and  carry  with 
me  your  good  opinion  in  that  small  vessel  before  the 
Winter  to  America. — 

I  am  happy  to  hear  that  the  Frigates  from  St.  Malo 
have  been  successful  near  Shetland. — Had  Count 
D'Estaign  arrived  in  the  Delaware  a  few  days  sooner, 
he  must  have  made  a  most  Glorious  and  easy  Conquest. 
Many  other  successful  projects  may  be  adopted  from 
the  Hints  which  I  had  the  honor  to  draw  up;  and  if  I 
can  still  furnish,  or  execute  any  of  those  already  fur- 
nished so  as  to  distress  and  humble  the  Common  Enemy 
it  will  afford  me  the  truest  Satisfaction. 

I  am  ambitious  to  merit  the  Honor  of  your  Friend- 
ship and  favor;  and  being  fully  persuaded  that  I  now 
address  a  noble-minded  man  who  will  not  be  offended 
with  the  Honest  Freedom  which  has  always  marked 
my  Correspondence — I  am  with  great  Esteem  and 
profound  Respect, 

Honored  Sir, 
Yours  &c. 
Monseigneur  De  Sartine. 

This  letter  he  also  submitted  to  Franklin,  promising 
still  to  have  patience  and  to  do  nothing  without  his 
knowledge  and  advice.  To  M.  de  Chaumont  he  de- 
clared in  a  letter  of  the  16th  that  he  "would  not  wish 
his  worst  enemy  to  be  in  his  situation."  The  French 
fleet  now  returned  to  Brest,  bringing  in  the  Fox,  an 
English  frigate  of  twenty-four  guns,  once  the  prize  of 
the  American  ships  Hancock  and  Boston.  Although  a 
far  more  modest  command  than  the  squadron  which 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  377 

had  previously  been  promised  him,  Jones  knew  that  the 
Fox  was  a  fast  sailer  and  immediately  asked  Franklin 
to  procure  her  for  him,  with  the  Alert  as  tender,  and  a 
day  or  two  afterward  wrote  also  to  the  Due  de  Chartres, 
who  had  returned  to  Paris,  begging  him  to  use  his  influ- 
ence in  his  behalf. 

A  letter  from  Doctor  Bancroft,  who  had  persuaded 
M.  de  Chaumont  to  interview  Sartine  in  regard  to 
Jones's  affairs,  announced  that  the  minister  had 
promised  to  give  him  the  Fox,  but  this  welcome  news 
was  soon  contradicted  by  the  intelligence  that  the 
minister  had  broken  his  promise  to  Jones,  and  had 
given  the  frigate  away  to  a  French  lieutenant.  Con- 
scious of  the  wrong  he  had  inflicted  upon  Jones  in 
giving  preference  to  the  French  officer,  M.  de  Sartine 
now  became  very  desirous  of  getting  rid  of  him,  and 
wrote  to  D'Orvilliers  that  it  was  his  intention  to  send 
the  importunate  American  officer  home  in  a  "bonne 
voiture  " — an  easy  coach.  Justly  indignant,  Jones  now 
took  occasion  to  express  his  opinion  of  the  minister  in  a 
quarter  where  it  might  prove  effective.  The  Due  de  la 
Rochefoucauld,  during  a  recent  stay  at  Brest,  had 
given  a  sympathetic  hearing  to  Jones's  complaints, 
and  to  him  he  now  directed  a  letter  which  has  been 
criticised  as  indiscreet,  but  which  expresses  very  for- 
cibly his  just  contempt  for  M.  de  Sartine's  methods. 
Paul  Jones  never  stooped  to  employ  any  of  the  arts 
of  the  courtier  to  king  or  minister,  but  boldly  demanded 
his  rights  with,  a  freedom  and  democratic  indepen- 
dence worthy  of  the  cause  which  he  had  so  ardently 
adopted: 


378  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Brest  9th  Octo.  1778. 
Honored  Sir: 

The  21st  Ult.  I  wrote  a  particular  Account  of  my 
situation  here  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Due  de 
Chartres. — But  that  brave  prince  has  himself  I  under- 
stand met  with  unmerited  trouble  and  of  course  has 
not  yet  had  leisure  to  remove  my  suspense. — 

The  Minister's  behavior  towards  me  has  been  and  is 
really  Astonishing. — 

At  his  request  (for  I  sought  not  the  Connection)  I 
gave  up  absolute  Certainties  and  far  more  flattering 
prospects  than  any  of  those  which  he  proposed. — What 
inducement  could  I  have  for  this  but  Gratitude  to 
France  for  having  first  recognized  our  Independence? — 

And  having  given  my  word  to  stay  for  some  time  in 
Europe,  I  have  been,  and  am  unwilling  to  take  it  back 
— Especially  after  having  Communicated  the  Circum- 
stances to  Congress. — 

The  Minister  to  my  infinite  mortification — after  pos- 
sessing himself  of  my  schemes  and  ideas  has  treated  me 
like  a  Child  five  times  successively,  by  leading  me  on 
from  great  to  little  and  from  little  to  less. — Does  such 
conduct  do  Honor  either  to  his  Head  or  to  his  Heart? — 

He  has  not  to  this  moment  offered  me  the  least 
apology  for  any  of  these  five  deceptions — nor  has  he,  I 
believe,  assigned  any  good  reason  to  that  venerable 
and  great  character  His  Excellency  Doctor  Franklin 
whom  he  has  made  the  instrument  to  entrap  me  in 
this  cruel  state  of  Inaction  and  Suspense. — 

The  Minister  has  lately  written  a  letter  to  Count 
D'Orvilliers  proposing  to  send  me  home  in  "Une  bonne 
voiture." — This  is  absolutely  adding  Insult  to  Injury — 
and  it  is  the  proposition  of  a  Man  whose  veracity  I 
have  not  experienced  in  former  cases. — 

I  could  in  the  summer  with  the  Ranger  joined  by  the 
two  other  American  Frigates  have  given  the  Enemy 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  379 

sufficient  foundation  for  their  Fears  in  Britain  as  well 
as  in  Ireland. — And  I  could  since  have  been  assisting 
Count  D'Estaing  or  acting  separately  with  an  American 
Squadron.  Instead  of  this  I  am  chained  down  to  a 
shameful  inactivity  here  after  having  written  to  Con- 
gress to  reserve  no  Command  for  me  in  America. — 

Convinced  as  I  am  that  your  Noble  and  generous 
breast  will  feel  for  my  unmerited  treatment  I  must 
beseech  you  to  interest  yourself  with  the  Due  de 
Chartres — that  the  King  may  be  made  acquainted  with 
my  Situation. — 

I  have  been  taught  to  believe  that  I  have  been  de- 
tained in  France  with  his  Majesty's  knowledge  and 
approbation — and  I  am  sure  he  is  too  good  a  prince  to 
detain  me  for  my  hurt  or  dishonor.  M.  de  Sartine  may 
think  as  he  pleases — but  Congress  will  not  thank  him 
for  having  thus  treated  an  Officer  who  has  always 
been  honored  with  their  Favor  and  Friendship. — 

I  entertained  some  hopes  of  his  honorable  intentions 
'till  he  gave  the  command  of  the  Fox  to  a  Lieutenant 
after  my  friends  had  asked  for  me  only  that  Ship  with 
the  Alert,  Cutter. — He  was  the  asker  at  the  beginning 
and  ought  to  be  so  now — He  has  to  my  certain  knowl- 
edge, Ships  unbestowed — And  he  is  bound  in  honor  to 
give  me  the  Indien  as  he  proposed  at  the  first, — or  an 
equivalent  command  immediately. — I  should  very 
much  esteem  the  honor  of  a  line  from  Your  hand  and 
shall  always  be  happy  in  Opportunities  to  merit  your 
Favor  and  Friendship — being  with  profound  Esteem 
and  Respect, 

Honored  Sir 
Yours  &c. 

John  Paul  Jones. 
Monseig.  Le  Due  De  Rochefoucauld. 

"I  am  not  ill  pleased,"  he  wrote  to  Williams,  who 
had  commented  not  unnaturally  upon  the  courage  of 


380  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Jones's  attitude  toward  the  minister,  "that  you  discover 
a  species  of  inflexibility  in  my  nature  which  will  not 
suffer  me  to  kneel  at  the  feet  of  haughty  power,  or  to 
stoop  where  I  cannot  esteem.  I  know  that  this  turn 
of  mind  is  highly  unfavorable  to  any  who  would  obtain 
court  favor,  or  promotion  in  Europe,  yet  I  find  no 
inclination  to  alter  my  disposition,  and  tho*  in  my  life 
I  have  met  with  some  severe  trials,  if  I  cannot  rise  by 
even  and  direct  methods,  I  will  not  rise  at  all." 

His  friends  at  Passy  were  scarcely  less  indignant  than 
Jones  himself  over  the  bad  faith  of  the  French  minister, 
and  Bancroft  wrote  him  on  the  10th  of  October  that 
he  had  himself  gone  to  the  Chevalier  Baudouine  to  make 
"one  more  strong  and  final  representation  of  your 
business,"  and  that  Baudouine  had  said  that  Sartine  was 
ashamed,  and  felt  the  justice  of  Jones's  complaints,  and 
that  he  had  good  intentions,  but  had  been  prevented 
from  carrying  them  out  by  the  intrigues  of  the  French 
marine  officers,  who  were  demanding  ships  and  oppos- 
ing the  assignment  of  any  except  to  their  own  num- 
ber, but  that  he  would  soon  provide  him  with  a  ship, 
even  if  he  were  obliged  to  purchase  it. 

Bancroft  wrote  also  that,  if  nothing  were  done, 
Franklin  would  in  a  few  days  declare  his  utmost  resent- 
ment, but  advised  Jones  to  have  patience  a  little  while 
longer.  Franklin's  grandson  and  secretary,  William 
Temple  Franklin,  wrote  also  very  sympathetically  of 
the  indignation  of  his  friends  at  the  treatment  he  had 
received.  "Ce  brave  capitaine  Jones,  que  fait  il?" 
was  the  question  which  he  declared  that  he  heard  daily 
from  many  inquirers. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  381 

Jones  now  received  a  letter  from  M.  de  Chaumont, 
in  which  his  friend  informed  him  that  he  also  had 
visited  Versailles  to  urge  the  minister  to  give  him  a 
ship,  and  that  Sartine  had  sworn  "by  the  Styx"  that 
he  would  surely  give  him  one;  in  the  meantime  he, 
M.  de  Chaumont,  offered  him  the  command  of  a  priva- 
teer owned  and  fitted  out  by  himself  for  private  enter- 
prises, but  to  this  offer  Jones  replied  with  pride  that, 
"as  a  servant  of  the  Imperial  Republic  of  America, 
honored  with  the  friendship  and  favor  of  Congress  he 
could  not  on  his  own  authority  or  inclination  serve 
either  himself  or  even  his  best  friend  in  any  private  line 
whatsoever,  unless  either  the  honor  or  interest  of 
America  is  the  premier  object."  He  declared  that  he 
had  believed  the  minister  in  the  beginning,  but  now, 
as  he  had  led  him  on  from  one  fair  promise  to  another, 
he  doubted  him,  and  wished  Sartine  to  know  that 
he  had  lost  all  confidence  in  his  engagements.  "Tho' 
he  'swears  even  by  the  Styx7  I  will  accept  nothing 
now,"  he  announced,  from  the  height  of  his  just  indig- 
nation, "  which  sails  slow  or  is  of  trifling  force,  and  shall 
expect  a  yes,  or  no,  to  this  immediately." 

On  the  same  day,  in  a  cipher  letter  to  his  friend 
Williams,  Jones,  now  at  white  heat,  declared  that  "by 
earth,  air,  and  sea,  Sartine  must  make  direct  satisfac- 
tion to  his  sacred  honor,  which  he  has  dared  to  violate, 
and  that  he  had  now  determined  to  appeal  from  the 
minister  to  the  King." 

The  presentation  of  his  situation  which  Jones  now 
drew  up  for  Louis  XVI  is  not  only  an  admirable  example 
of  that  terse  and  lucid  English  which  was  at  his  com- 


382  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

mand,  but  an  instance,  possibly  the  most  notable,  of 
the  courage  and  superb  self-confidence  which  were  the 
principal  elements  of  his  greatness.  His  request  to  the 
Duchesse  de  Chartres  to  present  his  letter  in  person  to 
the  King  partook  of  the  same  courage,  not  to  say 
aplomb,  with  which  he  had  directed  his  appeal  over  the 
head  of  the  minister  to  the  King  himself.  The  brief 
letter  to  the  duchess  as  well  as  that  to  the  King  have 
been  published  in  French  by  a  recent  biographer  of 
Jones,1  with  the  statement  that  the  duchess  obeyed  his 
behest  and  that,  in  consequence  of  her  personal  inter- 
view with  the  King,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  placed 
finally  at  Jones's  disposition. 

The  letters  were  not  written  in  French,  for,  accord- 
ing to  repeated  statements  in  his  letters  to  the  Prince 
of  Nassau  and  the  Due  de  Chartres,  he  was  unable  at 
this  time  to  write  the  language,  nor  in  all  probability 
were  they  ever  seen  by  either  the  duchess  or  the 
King;  for  before  they  arrived  in  Paris,  sent  first,  ac- 
cording to  Jones's  invariable  custom,  to  Doctor  Frank- 
lin, M.  de  Sartine  had  himself  sent  a  formal  promise  to 
the  commissioners  to  give  Jones  a  ship.  It  was  there- 
fore Franklin's  opinion  that  there  was  no  longer  any 
necessity  for  Jones  to  send  them,  and  that  an  expres- 
sion of  lack  of  confidence  in  the  minister  in  the  face  of 
his  written  promise  to  carry  out  his  engagement  with 
Jones  would  be  unwise.  Jones  acquiesced  in  this  de- 
cision, although  with  some  reluctance,  and  the  letters 
never  left  the  hands  of  Franklin.  They  are,  however, 
too  expressive  of  his  feelings  at  this  crisis  to  be  omitted : 

I A.  C.  Buell. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  383 

Brest,  Oct  1778. 
Madame: — 

The  business  which  brought  me  from  Brest  to  Paris 
last  Summer,  when  I  had  the  honor  and  happiness  of 
paying  my  respects  to  your  Royal  Highness  afforded 
me  a  very  fair  prospect  of  being  able  immediately  to 
pay  a  much  more  successful  visit  to  the  enemies'  coast 
than  that  from  which  I  was  then  returned. — 

I  appeared  at  Versailles  by  the  particular  desire  of 
M.  de  Sartine — who  in  consequence  of  the  high  Opinion 
which  he  professed  to  have  of  my  Conduct  and  Bravery 
voluntarily  proposed  (as  I  understood  with  the  consent 
and  approbation  of  his  Majesty)  to  bestow  on  me  a 
very  Honorable  Command;  he  having  written  a  letter 
to  their  "Excellencies  the  American  Plenipotentiaries" 
requesting  as  a  favor  that  I  might  be  permitted  to 
remain  in  Europe. 

I  had  the  honor  to  furnish  the  Minister  with  a  num- 
ber of  plans  which  he  approved  for  Secret  Expeditions, 
but  tho'  various  Armaments  have  been  proposed  to  be 
put  under  my  command  to  pursue  my  own  projects — 
Yet  every  one  of  these  Armaments  have  fallen  to  noth- 
ing— some  of  them  even  in  the  Moment  when  I  was 
taught  to  believe  that  the  King's  signature  alone  was 
wanting. — 

Thus  have  I  been  trifled  with  for  nearly  five  months. 
The  best  season  of  the  year  and  such  opportunities  of 
serving  my  Country  and  acquiring  Honor  as  I  cannot 
again  expect  in  the  course  of  this  War  are  lost. — 

I  have  written  to  the  Congress  to  reserve  no  Com- 
mand for  me  in  America — And  to  my  inexpressible 
mortification  having  no  Command  here,  I  am  con- 
sidered everywhere  as  an  Officer  in  Disgrace. — 

Yet  the  Minister  has  made  no  apology  for  all  this 
either  to  myself  who  did  not  seek  after  the  connection 
or  to  his  Excellency  Doctor  Franklin. — 


384  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

I  am  not  an  Adventurer  in  search  of  Fortune,  on  the 
contrary  I  laid  aside  my  enjoyments  in  Private  Life 
and  drew  my  Sword  at  the  Commencement  of  this  War 
only  in  support  of  the  Dignity  and  Violated  Rights  of 
Human  Nature. — 

Honored  as  I  am  with  the  favor  and  friendship  of 
the  Congress  both  my  Honor  and  my  Duty  prompt 
me  to  steadfastly  persevere;  'till  I  see  those  Rights 
Established, — or  lose  my  life  in  the  Righteous  pursuit. — 

But  as  I  see  no  prospect  of  being  soon  relieved  from 
this  Unworthy  Situation  I  have  written  the  within  let- 
ter to  his  Majesty  which  I  must  beseech  your  Royal 
Highness  to  present — you  will  thereby  add  a  Singular 
Objection  to  what  I  already  owe  to  your  former  Con- 
descending Attention. — 

I  should  be  supremely  happy  to  succeed  thro'  the 
influence  of  so  Amiable  a  Princess  and  so  powerful  an 
Advocate — whom  I  perfectly  esteem  and  respect. — 

Being  truly  and  always  in  the  Artless  sincerity  of  my 
Heart, 

Madam  Your  Royal  Highness, 

Very  Obliged  &c. 
Madame  la  Duchesse  de  Chartres. 

Brest,  October  19th,  1778. 
Sire: 

After  my  return  to  Brest  in  the  American  Ship  of 
War  the  Ranger,  from  the  Irish  Channel, — His  Excel- 
lency Doctor  Franklin,  did  me  the  Honor  to  inform  me 
by  a  letter  dated  the  1st  of  June — That  M.  de  Sartine 
having  an  High  Opinion  of  my  Conduct  and  Bravery, 
had  determined  with  your  Majesty's  consent  and  ap- 
probation to  give  me  the  Command  of  the  Ship  of  War 
the  Indien;  which  was  built  at  Amsterdam  but  after- 
wards for  political  reasons  made  the  property  of  France. 
— I  was  to  act  with  unlimited  orders  under  the  Com- 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  385 

mission  and  Flag  of  America,  and  the  Prince  de  Nassau 
proposed  to  accompany  me  on  the  Ocean. — 

I  was  deeply  penetrated  with  a  sense  of  the  Honor 
done  me  by  this  generous  proposition,  as  well  as  of  the 
favor  which  your  Majesty  intended  thereby  to  confer 
on  America, — And  I  accepted  the  offer  with  the  greater 
pleasure  as  the  Congress  had  sent  me  to  Europe  in  the 
Ranger  to  Command  the  Indien,  before  the  property 
of  that  ship  was  changed. 

The  Minister  desired  to  see  me  at  Versailles  to  settle 
future  plans  of  Operation; — and  I  attended  him  for 
that  purpose — I  was  told  that  the  Indien  was  at  the 
Texel  completely  Armed  and  fitted  for  the  Sea. — But 
the  Prince  de  Nassau  was  sent  express  to  Holland  and 
returned  with  a  very  different  account.  He  reported 
that  the  Indien  was  at  Amsterdam  and  could  not  be 
got  afloat  or  Armed  before  the  September  Equinox. — 

The  American  Plenipotentiaries  proposed  that  I 
should  return  to  America,  and  as  I  have  been  appointed 
oftener  than  once  to  the  Chief  Command  of  an  Ameri- 
can Squadron  to  execute  Secret  Enterprizes,  it  was  not 
doubted  but  that  Congress  would  again  show  me 
preference. — 

M.  de  Sartine  however  thought  proper  to  prevent  my 
Departure  by  writing  a  letter  without  my  knowledge 
to  the  American  Plenipotentiaries,  requesting  as  a 
favor  that  I  might  be  permitted  to  remain  in  Europe, 
and  that  the  Ranger  might  be  sent  back  to  America 
under  another  Commander; — He  having  special  ser- 
vice which  he  wished  me  to  execute. 

This  request  they  readily  granted — And  I  was  flat- 
tered by  the  prospect  of  being  enabled  to  testify  by  my 
services,  my  gratitude  to  Your  Majesty,  as  the  first 
Prince  who  has  so  generously  acknowledged  our 
Independence. — 
■  There  was  an  interval  of  more  than  three  months 


386  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

before  the  Indien  was  expected  to  be  afloat. — To  em- 
ploy that  period  usefully,  when  your  Majesty's  Fleet 
was  first  Ordered  to  sail  from  Brest; — I  proposed  to 
the  Minister  to  embark  in  it  as  a  Volunteer  in  pursuit 
of  Marine  knowledge. — The  Minister  thought  fit  to 
reject  that  offer — but  I  had  at  the  same  time  the  Sat- 
isfaction to  find  that  he  entirely  approved  of  a  variety 
of  Hints  for  private  Enterprizes  which  I  had  drawn  up 
for  his  consideration. — 

Two  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  settle  with  me  the 
plans  that  were  to  be  adopted — who  gave  me  assurance 
that  three  of  the  best  Frigates  in  France  with  two 
tenders  and  a  number  of  troops  should  be  immediately 
put  under  my  Command,  to  pursue  such  of  my  own 
projects  as  I  tho't  proper, — but  this  fell  to  nothing  in 
the  Moment  when  I  was  taught  to  believe  that  your 
Majesty's  signature  alone  was  wanting. — 

Another  Armament  composed  of  Cutters  and  small 
vessels  at  L'Orient  was  proposed  to  be  put  under  my 
Command  to  Alarm  the  Coasts  of  England  and  check 
the  Jersey  Privateers — But  happily  for  me,  this  also 
failed;  and  I  was  thereby  saved  from  impending  ruin 
and  Dishonor.  For  as  I  now  find  each  of  the  vessels 
sail  slow,  and  their  United  Force  is  very  insignificant. — 

The  Minister  then  thought  fit  that  I  should  return 
to  Brest  to  Command  the  Lively,  and  join  some  Frigates 
on  an  Expedition  from  St.  Malo  to  the  North  Sea. — 

I  returned  here  with  express  haste  for  that  purpose; 
but  found  that  the  Lively  had  been  bestowed  at  Brest 
before  the  Minister  mentioned  that  ship  to  me  at 
Versailles. — 

This  was,  however,  another  fortunate  disappoint- 
ment as  the  Lively  proves  both  in  sailing  and  equip- 
ment much  inferior  to  the  Ranger. — 

But  more  especially  if  it  be  true,  as  I  have  since 
understood,  that  it  was  the  Minister's  intention  to  give 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  387 

the  Chief  Command  of  the  Expedition  to  a  Lieutenant, 
which  had  I  been  concerned  in  it  would  have  occa- 
sioned a  very  disagreeable  Misunderstanding. — 

For  as  an  officer  of  the  first  Rank  in  the  American 
Marine,  who  has  always  been  honored  with  the  Favor 
and  Friendship  of  the  Congress;  I  can  receive  Orders 
from  no  Inferior  Officer  whatsoever. — 

My  plan  was  the  destruction  of  the  English  Baltic 
Fleet  of  great  consequence  to  the  Enemies  Marine,  and 
then  only  protected  by  one  Frigate,  and  I  would  have 
held  myself  responsible  for  its  success  had  I  commanded 
the  Expedition. — 

M.  de  Sartine  afterwards  sent  orders  to  General 
D'Orvilliers  to  receive  me  on  board  the  Fleet  agreeable 
to  my  former  proposal,  but  the  orders  did  not  appear 
until  after  the  departure  of  the  Fleet  the  last  time  from 
Brest,  nor  was  I  made  acquainted  with  the  Circum- 
stances before  the  Fleet  returned  here. — 

Thus  have  I  been  chained  down  to  a  Shameful  Inac- 
tivity for  the  space  of  near  Five  Months. — I  have  lost 
the  best  season  of  the  Year;  and  such  opportunities  of 
serving  my  Country  and  acquiring  Honor  as  I  cannot 
again  expect  in  the  course  of  this  War;  and  to  my 
infinite  Mortification  having  no  command,  I  am  con- 
sidered everywhere  as  an  Officer  cast  off  and  in  Dis- 
grace for  Secret  Reasons. — 

I  have  written  respectful  letters  to  the  Minister — 
none  of  which  he  has  condescended  to  answer.  I  have 
written  to  the  Prince  de  Nassau  with  as  little  effect. — 
And  I  do  not  understand  that  any  Apology  has  been 
made  even  to  that  great  and  venerable  Character  his 
Excellency  Doctor  Franklin;  whom  the  Minister  has 
made  the  instrument  of  bringing  me  into  such  unmerited 
trouble. — 

Having  written  to  the  Congress  to  reserve  no  Com- 
mand for  me  in  America,  my  sensibility  is  the  more 


388  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

affected  by  this  Unworthy  Situation, — in  the  sight  of 
your  Majesties  Fleet, — I  however  make  no  remark  on 
the  treatment  which  I  have  received. — 

Though  I  wish  not  to  become  my  own  panegyrist; 
Yet  I  must  beg  your  Majesties  permission  to  observe 
that  I  am  not  an  Adventurer  in  search  of  Fortune,  of 
which  I  thank  God  I  inherit  a  Sufficiency. — 

When  the  American  Banners  were  first  displayed,  I 
drew  my  Sword  in  Support  of  the  Violated  Dignity  and 
the  Rights  of  Human  Nature, — and  both  Honor  and 
duty  prompt  me  to  steadfastly  continue  the  Righteous 
pursuit,  and  to  sacrifice  to  it  not  only  my  private  enjoy- 
ments but  even  my  life  if  necessary. 

I  must  acknowledge  that  the  generous  praise  which  I 
have  received  from  Congress  and  others  exceeds  the 
merit  of  my  past  services,  and  therefore  I  the  more 
ardently  wish  for  future  opportunities  of  testifying  my 
gratitude  by  my  activity. — 

As  your  Majesty  by  espousing  the  cause  of  America 
hath  become  "the  protector  of  the  Rights  of  Human 
Nature"  I  am  persuaded  that  you  will  not  disregard 
my  Situation  nor  Suffer  me  to  remain  any  longer  in  this 
insupportable  Disgrace. — 

I  am  with  perfect  Gratitude  and  profound  Respect, 
Sire, 

Your  Majesties 
Very  Obliged 
Very  Obedient 

and  very  humble  Servt. — 

His  Most  Christian  Majesty — 

Louis  King  of  France  &  Navarre. — 

Brought  to  a  realizing  sense  that  Jones  was  too  highly 
regarded  by  the  representatives  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment to  be  ignominiously  sent  home,  and  further 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  389 

influenced  by  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  who,  with 
his  well-known  benevolence,  had  used  the  power  of  his 
great  position  with  the  minister  in  obedience  to  Jones's 
request,  the  minister  assured  the  due  that  he  entertained 
the  highest  opinion  of  Jones.  Abandoning  at  once  his 
resentment  against  the  minister,  on  the  intelligence  of 
the  latter's  appreciation,  Jones  wrote  to  M.  de  Chau- 
mont  that  "his  best  respects  and  most  grateful  thanks 
awaited  the  minister,  for  the  honorable  things  he  had 
said  of  him  to  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  and  that 
it  would  be  his  ambition  to  merit  his  favor  and  af- 
fection." 

It  was  well  that  Jones's  sufferings  were  allayed  tem- 
porarily by  these  fair  words,  for  many  weeks  and  even 
months  were  to  elapse  before  the  promises  were  re- 
deemed. During  the  month  of  November  he  was  in 
receipt  of  various  communications  from  the  different 
Continental  agents  at  the  various  seaports  in  regard 
to  available  ships,  and  he  attempted  to  beguile  the 
ennui  of  his  suspense  by  sending  accounts  of  his  situa- 
tion to  his  friends  Morris  and  Hewes,  whose  rapturous 
praises  of  his  conduct  of  the  Ranger  cruise  had  been 
repeated  to  him  by  his  fellow-officer  Captain  Bell,  who 
had  just  arrived  at  L'Orient,  and  who  had  seen  Morris 
at  Philadelphia  and  Hewes  at  Edenton.  Captain  Bell 
reported  that  various  "'northward"  officers  had  stated 
that  Simpson  had  superseded  him  in  the  command  of 
the  Ranger,  but  that  "The  Public  to  the  southward  think 
you  the  finest  fellow  belonging  to  America."  To  this 
comforting  letter  Jones  replied  that  his  account  of  the 
particular  affection  of  Mr.  Morris  and  Mr.  Hewes  af- 


390  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

forded  him  the  truest  pleasure,  that  he  would  rather 
have  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  a  few  such  men 
than  the  empty  applause  of  millions;  yet  he  confessed 
that  his  vanity  was  justly  flattered  by  the  account  of 
the  generous  approbation  of  his  past  services.  To  that 
generous  public  he  declared:  "I  pledge  myself  that  it 
shall  be  my  first  care  and  my  heart's  supremest  wish  to 
merit  the  continuance  of  its  approbation,  by  my  future 
services  and  constant  readiness  to  support  the  honor 
of  freedom's  flag." 

To  his  friend  Captain  McNeill,  who  had  been  un- 
justly suspended  from  his  command,  he  wrote  with 
great  sympathy,  as  to  one  who  had  also  fallen  among 
thieves,  and  expressed  his  sincerest  thanks  for  his  good 
opinion,  saying  modestly  that  in  spite  of  his  troubles 
he  believed  "no  man  ever  received  so  much  praise  for  a 
little  service  in  Europe  as  himself." 

Six  long  weeks  had  now  dragged  by  since  Jones  had 
had  the  minister's  definite  promise  to  give  him  a  ship, 
and  at  last  he  received  orders  from  M.  de  Chaumont 
directing  him  to  inspect  some  insignificant  sloops  at 
Brest,  with  a  view  to  their  purchase.  Jones  reported 
them  as  utterly  unfit  for  his  purpose,  saying  that  "he 
wished  to  have  no  connection  with  any  ships  which  do 
not  sail  fast,  as  I  intend  to  go  in  harm's  way."  He 
had  been  fearful  that  the  Indien  would  be  given  away 
to  some  French  officer,  and  thanked  M.  de  Chaumont 
for  his  assurance  that  she  was  not  to  be  armed  before 
the  spring.  He  wrote  that  the  French  officers  under- 
stood that  that  ship  had  been  promised  him  and  would 
make  no  difficulty  about  its  being  given  to  him.     "You 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  391 

know,"  he  continued,  "that  I  have  remained  in  Europe 
on  the  faith  of  commanding  that  ship,  and  have  lost 
so  much  time  that  I  cannot  regain ! — I  have  almost  half 
killed  myself  with  grief,"  and  then  he  reminded  M.  de 
Chaumont  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  had 
adopted  no  rule  against  rewarding  the  merit  of  a 
stranger,  and  referred  to  the  appointments  in  the  army 
and  to  the  fact  that  the  best  ship  in  the  navy  had 
been  called  the  Alliance  and  given  to  a  French  officer. 
Wearied  out  at  last  with  the  long-drawn  agony  of 
his  waiting,  Jones  now  thought  of  going  to  I/Orient, 
being,  as  he  declared,  "heartily  sick  of  Brest  and  an 
eyesore  to  the  Marine,,,  but  before  he  departed  he  had 
occasion  to  reply  to  a  characteristic  inquiry  of  Arthur 
Lee's  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  one  of  the  prizes  taken  by 
the  Ranger  on  his  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  the  one 
which  had  been  properly  conducted  and  recorded  by 
Jonathan  Williams.  Mr.  Lee  had  declined  to  give 
Jones  a  copy  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Ameri- 
can marine,  which  Jones  had  desired  for  use  in  his 
approaching  cruise,  for  the  reason  that  he  considered 
that  Jones's  application  had  not  been  made  in  a  respect- 
ful form.  Disappointed  and  mortified  as  he  was  in  his 
seemingly  helpless  situation,  Jones  saw  no  reason  why 
he  should  accept  insult  from  Mr.  Lee,  and  sent  the  fol- 
lowing very  independent  and  dignified  reply: 

Brest,  November  21st,  1778. 
His  Excellency,  Arthur  Lee, 
fife— 

I  have  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the  16th 
current.    It  is  my  duty,  and  will  ever  afford  me 


392  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

pleasure,  to  give  every  satisfactory  information  in  my 
power  respecting  any  circumstances  that  regards  the 
public  interest,  and  my  conduct  as  an  American  officer. 
In  my  letter  of  the  3rd  of  June  to  the  Commissioners  I 
was  particular  in  accounting  for  the  prizes  I  had  taken. 
On  my  way  from  America  to  Nantz  I  took  two  brigs 
laden  with  fruit  from  Malaga,  for  London.  The  one  of 
which  you  inquire  arrived  at  Nantz  and  was  sold  very 
cheap  by  Messrs.  Morris  and  Williams,  the  captors' 
moiety  of  which  was  paid  them  in  February,  agreeable 
to  your  letter.  This  is  all  that  came  within  my  knowl- 
edge; but  I  have  understood,  and  believe,  that  the 
latter  acted  in  that  business  by  virtue  of  the  authority 
which  he  received  from  the  former,  to  whom  I  made 
application  on  my  arrival.  Should  any  farther  account 
be  necessary,  I  am  always  ready  to  give  it  as  far  as  it 
lays  in  my  power. 

If  Mr.  Lee  will  for  a  moment  recur  to  my  letter  to 
him,  dated  on  board  the  Ranger  the  26th  of  February 
last,  he  will  find  no  reason  to  charge  me  with  want  of 
due  respect.  The  handbill  that  was  enclosed  by  which 
I  became  accountable  to  those  who  entered  to  serve 
under  my  command  for  the  regular  payment  of  their 
wages,  having  been  approved  by  the  Marine  Committee 
(as  certified  to  me  under  their  Secretary's  hand)  the 
public  faith  was  thereby  pledged  to  put  it  in  my  power, 
else  I  should  have  found  other  means  to  fulfill  that 
engagement.  And  this  appears  to  have  been  Mr.  Lee's 
opinion  when  he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  a  letter  of 
credit  in  my  favor,  at  Passy,  the  10th  of  January  last, 
now  before  me. 

The  handful  of  men  under  my  command  had  been 
led  through  many  dangers  of  storms  and  enemies,  and, 
though  in  want  of  clothing  and  money,  were  returned 
with  some  credit  to  Brest,  yet  when  on  the  16th  of  May 
I  ventured  to  sign  my  first  draft  on  the  public  funds  for 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  393 

their  relief,  agreeable  to  my  letter  of  advice,  my  signa- 
ture was  dishonored. 

Neither  Dr.  Franklin  nor  Mr.  Adams  were  ac- 
quainted with  my  engagement  to  the  crew;  but  Mr. 
Lee,  who  had  been  better  informed,  concurred  to  dis- 
honor my  draft,  and  left  me  with  two  hundred  pris- 
oners of  war,  a  number  of  sick  and  wounded,  an  almost 
naked  crew,  and  a  ship,  after  a  severe  engagement,  in 
want  of  stores  and  provisions,  from  the  9th  of  May 
till  the  13th  of  June,  destitute  of  any  public  support; 
yet  I  found  means  to  cure  my  wounded,  feed  my 
people,  to  refit  the  ship,  and  guard  my  prisoners. 

The  dishonor  that  had  been  done  me  was  known 
through  the  French  fleet  and  elsewhere;  yet  though  I 
was  the  first  that  had  appeared  at  Brest  and  obtained 
from  France  the  honors  due  the  American  flag,  I  made 
no  public  complaints,  and  only  expressed  my  concern 
by  letter  to  the  Commissioners,  at  the  disgraceful  wound 
which  the  public  credit  had  suffered  through  me.  And 
now  I  beg  leave  to  ask  Mr.  Lee  if  I  have  deserved  such 
treatment? 

The  wretched  situation  of  the  crew  occasioned  mur- 
muring which  was  artfully  fomented  by  an  officer  in 
disgrace,  who  succeeded  too  well  in  persuading  the 
people  that  I  had  deceived  them,  and  that  they  should 
cast  the  whole  blame  upon  me,  as  the  hindrance  to  their 
receiving  wages,  prize-money,  and  bounties.  In  this 
agitation  of  their  minds  he  obtained  from  them  certifi- 
cates, &c.  to  the  Commissioners  in  his  favor. 

These  poor  men  were  at  last  dragged  away  without 
clothing,  having  only  received  at  Brest  eight  or  nine 
crowns  each,  as  prize  money,  the  moment  of  their  de- 
parture, and  not  being  allowed  time  to  lay  out  that 
trifle,  and  imprecating  general  curses  on  the  public 
service,  public  agents,  and  all  concerned. 

This  is  not  the  way  to  establish  a  Navy.    Congress 


394  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

has  made  laws  for  its  internal  government,  and  ap- 
pointed the  officers  alone  as  magistrates  to  put  them 
into  execution.  The  standing  order  of  the  Marine 
Committee  has  been  to  preserve  strict  discipline  in  the 
fleet,  and  all  applications  of  complaint,  either  against 
individuals  or  numbers,  they  have  rejected  without 
answer.  It  not  being,  as  they  have  told  me,  the 
province  of  the  civil  power  to  interfere  in  the  internal 
government  of  ships  of  war.  And  you  may  now  see, 
that  listening  to  the  people  of  the  Ranger,  instead  of 
doing  good,  has  destroyed  even  the  shadow  of  subor- 
dination. 

Mr.  Amiel  has  told  me  that  you  objected  to  my 
receiving  copies  of  some  papers  that  concern  me,  be- 
cause you  thought  I  had  not  made  a  respectful  appli- 
cation. A  copy  of  it  is  enclosed,  which  though  not  in 
form  of  humble  petition,  I  believe  it  will  be  difficult  to 
construe  into  disrespect.  True  respect  can  never  be 
extorted;  and  I  will  say  of  myself,  that 

"The  tribute  of  respect  to  greatness  due, 
Not  the  bribed  sycophant  more  freely  pays." 

I  shall  only  add,  that  the  dishonor  of  my  bill  of  ex- 
change has  not  only  served  to  corroborate  the  ungrate- 
ful misrepresentations  of  Lieut.  Simpson,  but  also  oc- 
casioned the  infamous  attachment  of  the  Ranger's 
prizes,  for  the  provisions  previously  furnished  by  M. 
Bersolle. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  your  polite  attentions  while  I 
was  at  Paris  last  Winter,  which  I  received  as  a  proof 
of  your  good  opinion,  and  which  I  have  not  since  for- 
feited by  any  misconduct. 

The  apparent  mystery  of  my  present  situation  can- 
not be  imputed  to  me  as  a  fault,  or  if  it  is,  I  am  respon- 
sible to  Congress.     I  have  endeavored  in  my  narrow 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  395 

walk,  to  pursue  a  steady  line  of  duty,  wishing  to  offend 
none. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

With  due  respect,  Sir,  yours,  &c. 

Events  were  to  show  at  a  later  crisis  of  his  affairs 
how  Lee  was  prepared  to  avenge  himself  for  this  self- 
respecting  attitude  on  Jones's  part. 

Among  several  reports  from  his  friends  in  regard  to 
available  ships,  Jones  heard  from  James  Moylan,  the 
United  States  commercial  agent  at  L'Orient,  of  an  East 
Indian  ship  called  the  Duras  which  was  for  sale,  and 
finally  determined,  although  without  the  minister's 
direct  authority,  to  proceed  to  that  port  immediately, 
to  inspect  the  ship  himself.  "  I  am  taking  a  step  out 
of  rule,"  he  wrote  to  Williams,  "but  I  see  no  remedy 
unless  I  wish  to  be  trifled  with  until  I  die  of  grief." 

Arrived  at  L'Orient  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of 
December,  he  wrote  to  M.  de  Chaumont,  on  the  next 
day,  that  he  had  seen  the  Duras,  and  that,  although 
somewhat  more  than  twelve  years  old,  he  believed  she 
would  answer.  To  this  report  of  Jones  no  reply  of 
any  kind  arrived  for  two  weeks,  and  the  owner,  who 
had  received  other  offers  for  the  ship,  gave  Jones  ten 
days'  refusal  in  which  to  purchase  her.  Under  this  cer- 
tainly unnecessary  delay  he  wrote  a  most  pitiful  ac- 
count of  his  situation  to  his  friend  Williams:  "My 
patience  being  worn  out  at  Brest,  Mr.  Amiel  and  myself 
left  that  purgatory  and  have  been  here  since  the  6th. 
I  wrote  on  the  7th  to  M.  de  Chaumont  that  there  is 
now  a  ship  that  might  answer,  but  no  reply  has  yet 
appeared.    I  have  not  yet  received  a  line  from  M.  de 


396  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Chaumont  since  the  9th  ult.,  he  at  that  time  offered 
to  buy  me  one  of  the  small  sloops  at  Brest;  to  that  I 
sent  an  absolute  refusal.  His  silence  has  hurt  me  ex- 
ceedingly, but  this  silence  of  Franklin  has  hurt  me  still 
more,  as  I  regard  him  with  the  affection  of  a  son  to  a 
parent.  So  much  indeed  have  I  suffered  through  the 
severity  of  my  situation,  that  I  find  my  health  much 
impaired.  I  cannot  sleep,  and  I  can  say  from  my  own 
sad  experience, 

"'Were  I  to  curse  the  man  I  hate, 
Attendance  and  dependence  be  his  fate.' " 

Two  days  after  writing  this  letter,  he  sent  a  last 
agonized  appeal  to  M.  de  Chaumont,  telling  him  that 
the  Duras  would  certainly  be  sold  if  he  did  not  promptly 
send  his  decision,  and  imploring  him  to  put  him  out  of 
his  misery  by  sending  him  some  definite  reply.  "If 
you  really  love  me,"  he  wrote,  "you  will  remove  my 
doubts,  or  tell  me  that  my  fears  are  true,  else  I  shall 
believe  that  I  have  been  betrayed  and  sacrificed  with 
premeditation." 

The  very  definiteness  of  the  term  at  which  the  re- 
fusal of  the  Duras  would  expire  seemed  to  ease  his 
pain.  "In  ten  days  I  shall  know,"  he  wrote  again 
and  again  to  his  friends  Ross  and  Williams,  "whether 
I  have  had  to  deal  with  honest  men  or  scoundrels." 

At  last,  on  the  28th,  a  reply  arrived,  and  it  was 
favorable.  Gourlade,  the  partner  of  James  Moylan, 
who  was  also  acting  as  commercial  agent  at  L'Orient, 
had  offered  to  buy  the  ship  himself  to  relieve  Jones's 
torment,  and  now  received  definite  orders  to  pur- 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  397 

chase  it.  But  again,  before  Jones  had  had  time  to 
more  than  draw  one  breath  of  relief  from  his  agony, 
another  doubtful,  temporizing  letter  arrived  from  M.  de 
Chaumont,  and  Jones  forthwith  made  up  his  mind  to 
go  to  Paris  to  attend  to  his  business  himself. 

In  the  journal  drawn  up  for  Louis  XVI  in  the  year 
1786,  in  which  all  the  incidents  of  his  naval  service  are 
related  with  admirable  clarity  and  succinctness,  Jones 
stated  that  his  reason  for  forming  this  decision  was  the 
accidental  reading  of  a  passage  in  Franklin's  "  Maxims 
of  Poor  Richard,"  in  which  he  found  the  advice:  "If 
you  would  have  your  business  done,  go  yourself,  if 
not,  send." 

In  the  first  week  of  the  new  year  he  therefore  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris,  deciding,  in  case  the  minister  should 
give  him  the  Duras,  to  change  her  name  to  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  to  celebrate  the  wise  axiom  of  "Poor 
Richard's  Almanac,"  and  the  fame  of  its  beloved 
author.  His  journey  was  productive  of  immediate 
and  favorable  results,  for  the  minister  received  him 
with  perfect  courtesy  and  promised  to  procure  him 
the  ship  without  further  delay.  He  also  introduced 
him  to  Count  Gamier,  with  whom  he  directed  Jones 
to  consult  in  regard  to  the  plans  for  his  proposed  expe- 
dition. This  gentleman  was  then  at  liberty  at  the 
court,  having  been  recalled  from  his  post  as  charge 
d'affaires  in  London  on  account  of  the  severing  of 
diplomatic  relations  between  France  and  England.  In 
his  journal  for  the  King,  Jones  describes  Count  Gamier 
as  "  un  homme  d'un  grand  penetration  et  d'un  jugement 
sur."    He  found  him  exceedingly  sympathetic  and  had 


398  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  greatest  satisfaction  in  the  association.  He  drew 
up  for  his  inspection  some  very  lucid  papers  in  regard 
to  the  proper  methods  of  conducting  aggressive  war- 
fare against  the  enemy's  coasts  and  the  proper  dis- 
tribution of  prize-money,  offering,  as  he  had  done 
before  in  the  case  of  the  cruise  in  the  Alfred  and  the 
Providence,  to  assist  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
expedition  from  his  own  pocket. 

The  consideration  he  received  at  this  time  from  the 
representatives  of  both  governments  must  have  been 
exceedingly  gratifying  to  Jones's  wounded  pride.  He 
was  again  received  as  a  guest  at  Passy,  and  again  en- 
joyed his  agreeable  intimacy  with  the  admiring  family 
of  M.  de  Chaumont  and  his  friendship  with  Doctor 
Bancroft.  M.  de  Sartine  now  treated  him  with  the 
utmost  favor,  intending  apparently  to  atone  for  the 
neglect  of  the  past.  He  gave  Jones  carte-blanche  and 
sole  command  of  the  expedition,  and  offered  him  a 
large  ship  of  war,  the  Marechal  de  Broglie,  of  sixty-four 
guns,  then  lying  at  Nantes.  He  proposed  also  to  give 
him  three  or  four  frigates  and  two  or  three  cutters, 
with  a  corps  of  five  hundred  men  from  Walsh's  Irish 
regiment,  to  make  the  land  attacks.  No  French  sea- 
men were  to  be  enlisted,  however,  and  despairing  of 
finding  a  sufficient  number  for  the  Marechal  de  Broglie, 
Jones  was  compelled  to  refuse  the  splendid  ship,  and 
content  himself,  while  waiting  for  the  Indien,  which 
Sartine  again  promised  him,  with  the  Duras. 

On  the  4th  of  February  the  minister  issued  to  him  in 
writing  the  King's  formal  bestowal  of  the  ship,  and 
announced  that  he  was  permitted  to  change  her  name 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  399 

according  to  his  desire.    Jones  replied  in  the  following 
letter: 

Passy,  Feb.  6ft,  1779. 
M.  de  Sartine,  Minister  of  Marine,  Versailles. 

My  Lord: — 

I  have  the  honor  to  receive  your  Excellency's  letter 
dated  the  1st,  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Gamier.  I  take 
the  earliest  opportunity  to  offer  you  my  sincere  and 
grateful  thanks  for  so  singular  and  honorable  a  mark 
of  your  confidence  and  approbation. 

It  shall  be  my  duty  to  represent  in  the  strongest 
terms  to  Congress,  the  generous  and  voluntary  reso- 
lution which  their  great  ally,  the  protector  of  the  rights 
of  human  nature,  and  the  best  of  kings,  has  taken  to 
promote  the  honor  of  their  flag,  and  I  beseech  you  to 
assure  his  Majesty  that  my  heart  is  impressed  with  the 
deepest  sense  of  the  obligation  which  I  owe  his  conde- 
scending favor  and  good  opinion  and  which  it  shall  be 
my  highest  ambition  to  merit,  by  rendering  every  ser- 
vice in  my  power  to  the  common  cause;  I  cannot  ensure 
success,  but  I  will  endeavor  to  deserve  it. 

I  beg  leave  to  assure  your  Excellency  that  I  will 
carefully  observe  your  present  as  well  as  future  instruc- 
tions, and  that  I  will  communicate  to  you  from  time  to 
time  a  faithful  account  of  my  proceedings. 

I  will  avail  myself  of  the  authority  which  you  have 
given  me  to  raise  French  volunteers  to  serve  as  ma- 
rines, as  I  fear  there  may  not  be  easily  found  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  American  seamen. 

It  has  always  been  my  custom  to  treat  my  people 
and  prisoners  with  hospitality  and  kindness,  and  you 
may  be  assured  that  I  shall  ever  take  pleasure  in  pro- 
moting the  happiness  of  every  person  under  my 
command. 

Your  having  permitted  me  to  alter  the  name  of  the 


400  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ship  has  given  me  a  pleasing  opportunity  of  paying  a 
well  merited  compliment  to  a  great  and  good  man  to 
whom  I  am  under  obligations,  and  who  honors  me  with 
his  friendship. 

I  am  in  the  fulness  and  grateful  affection  of  my 
heart,  and  with  perfect  esteem  and  respect, 
My  Lord, 

Yours  &c. 

It  was  now  time  for  Jones  to  commence  active  prepa- 
rations. He  left  Paris,  therefore,  on  the  12th  and 
journeyed  to  St.  Malo  to  recruit  as  many  seamen  as 
possible  at  that  port.  From  thence,  without  delay,  he 
went  to  L'Orient,  where  the  several  ships  of  his  squad- 
ron were  ordered  to  assemble. 

The  beautiful,  fast-sailing  Alliance,  had  just  arrived 
in  Europe,  bringing  over  Lafayette,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Pierre  Landais,  and  Jones  wrote  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  L'Orient  to  Count  Gamier  asking  him  to  re- 
quest Franklin  to  join  her  to  his  squadron.  He  an- 
nounced some  difficulty  in  obtaining  proper  cannon 
for  the  Poor  Richard,  and  said  that  he  was  afraid  he 
would  have  to  make  search  for  them  himself.  He  took 
a  few  days  of  repose  before  proceeding  upon  these 
journeys,  during  which  time  he  wrote  the  remarkable 
letter  to  Franklin  in  which  he  informed  him  of  the 
killing  of  the  mutineer  at  Tobago.  The  innocent  mys- 
tery which  Franklin  had  asked  Jones  to  explain,  arising 
from  the  practical  joking  of  the  mischievous  Mile,  de 
Chaumont  and  her  maid,  most  strangely  brought  about 
the  painful  confession.1    The  "misfortune  of  his  life" 

1  Letter  from  Franklin  to  Jones,  March,  1779,  Appendix 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  401 

was  never  revealed  by  his  devoted  friends,  nor  did  it 
alter  in  any  perceptible  manner  the  warmth  of  their 
affection  for  him.  Jones's  idea  of  friendship  was  a 
very  high  one;  his  candid  nature  could  not  endure  a 
relationship  which  was  limited  by  a  shadow  of  conceal- 
ment. He  requested  that  the  letter  containing  his 
confession  should  also  be  shown  to  Doctor  Bancroft, 
for  whom  he  had  the  strongest  affection,  and  upon 
whom  he  relied  for  advice  and  assistance  in  every 
emergency. 

In  his  prompt  and  energetic  efforts  to  persuade  Sar- 
tine  to  keep  his  promises  to  Jones,  Bancroft  had  shown 
that  he  deserved  this  confidence,  and  when  Jones  had 
the  opportunity  of  serving  him  in  investigating  the 
serious  charges  that  Bancroft  had  sold  his  knowledge 
of  the  approaching  commercial  alliance  between  France 
and  America  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  speculating 
in  stocks,  he  was  no  less  active  in  Bancroft's  behalf. 
In  common  with  every  associate  of  the  commissioners, 
Bancroft's  honesty  had  been  questioned  by  Arthur  Lee, 
and  Jones  was  the  instrument  of  clearing  him  from 
suspicion.  At  a  much  later  time  Lee  retracted  these 
charges  himself,  owing  to  the  "fuller  information" 
which  he  had  received  when  it  was  disclosed  that  he 
himself  had  been  the  dupe  of  his  two  secretaries,  Thorn- 
ton and  Ford,  who,  as  spies  in  the  pay  of  the  English 
Government,  had  duly  forwarded  information  in  regard 
to  the  treaty. 

Having  sent  off  Lieutenant  Amiel  and  other  officers 
whom  he  had  found  at  Nantes  to  various  points  to  re- 
cruit seamen,  Jones  now  started  on  his  long  and  very 


402  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

exhausting  search  for  cannon.  He  went  to  Bordeaux, 
and  thence  to  Angouleme,  where  he  at  last  found  a 
foundry  where  they  might  be  made,  then  to  Nantes, 
back  to  L'Orient,  and  once  again  to  Nantes.  At  the 
latter  port  he  again  enjoyed  the  delight  of  daily  asso- 
ciation with  his  beloved  Jonathan  Williams,  who  as- 
sisted him  in  the  revaluation  of  the  Selkirk  plate,  and 
also  helped  in  the  vigorous  search  for  recruits. 

He  was  wellnigh  exhausted  by  all  this  journeying, 
when,  on  the  9th  of  April,  he  was  met  at  Nantes  by 
an  express  from  Paris  commanding  his  immediate  pres- 
ence at  the  capital  for  an  important  consultation  with 
Doctor  Franklin  and  the  minister  of  marine.  He  started 
without  delay  to  obey  this  summons,  taking  Jonathan 
Williams  as  far  as  L'Orient.  Within  forty-eight  hours 
from  L'Orient  he  was  in  Paris,  and  discovered  that 
the  reason  for  the  summons  arose  from  Franklin's  de- 
sire to  associate  Lafayette  with  him  in  his  approach- 
ing cruise.  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  had  no  sooner 
arrived  in  Paris  and  been  informed  of  Jones's  daring 
plans  for  attacking  the  coast  of  England  than  he  de- 
clared his  ardent  desire  to  join  the  expedition.  His 
proposal  was  cordially  received  by  Franklin  and  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Count  de  Vergennes.  A  new  and  most 
attractive  prospect  was  thus  opened  out  to  Jones, 
who  accepted  the  idea  of  a  joint  expedition  with  La- 
fayette with  enthusiasm.  It  was  proposed  that  the 
general  should  himself  command  a  force  of  seven  hun- 
dred picked  men  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  land 
attacks,  and  plans  were  concerted  and  decided  upon 
between  them  with  Count  Garnier's  assistance,  which, 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  403 

as  Jones  said,  "would  have  astonished  the  world." 
Jones  was  promised  an  increased  naval  force,  and  noth- 
ing was  lacking  to  show  the  confidence  and  good  in- 
tentions of  the  minister. 

Jones  remained  in  Paris  only  long  enough  to  perfect 
these  plans,  and  then  returned  to  L'Orient  to  hasten 
the  equipment  of  the  squadron.  A  few  days  after  his 
departure  Franklin  wrote  a  letter  to  Jones  under  the 
belief  that  Lafayette  was  about  to  join  him  at  L'Orient, 
in  which  he  gave  the  two  young  men  the  benefit  of  his 
affectionate  and  paternal  advice. 

To  Capt.  John  Paul  Jones: 

21th  of  April 
My  dear  sir: 

I  have  at  the  request  of  M.  de  Sartine  postponed 
the  sending  of  the  Alliance  to  America,  and  have  or- 
dered her  to  proceed  immediately  from  Nantes  to 
L'Orient,  where  she  is  to  be  furnished  with  her  com- 
plement of  men,  join  your  little  squadron,  and  act 
under  your  command. 

The  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  will  be  with  you  soon. 
It  has  been  observed,  that  joint  expeditions  of  land  and 
sea  forces,  often  miscarry  through  jealousies  and  mis- 
understandings between  the  officers  of  the  different 
corps.  This  must  happen  where  there  are  little  minds, 
actuated  more  by  personal  views  or  profit  or  honor  to 
themselves,  than  by  the  warm  and  sincere  desire  of 
good  to  their  country.  Knowing  you  both,  as  I  do,  and 
your  just  manner  of  thinking  on  these  occasions,  I  am 
confident  nothing  of  the  kind  can  happen  between  you, 
and  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  recommend  to 
either  of  you,  that  condescension,  mutual  good  will, 
and  harmony,  which  contribute  so  much  to  success  in 


404  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

such  undertakings.  I  look  upon  this  expedition  as  an 
introduction  only  to  greater  trusts  and  more  extensive 
commands,  and  as  a  kind  of  trial  of  both  your  abili- 
ties, and  of  your  fitness  in  temper  and  disposition  for 
acting  in  concert  with  others.  I  flatter  myself,  there- 
fore, that  nothing  will  happen  that  may  give  impres- 
sions to  the  disadvantage  of  either  of  you,  when 
greater  affairs  shall  come  under  consideration. 

As  this  is  understood  to  be  an  American  expedition, 
under  the  Congress  commission  and  colours,  the  Mar- 
quis, who  is  a  Major  General  in  that  service,  has  of 
course  the  step  in  point  of  rank,  and  he  must  have  the 
command  of  the  land  forces,  which  are  committed  by 
the  King  to  his  care;  but  the  command  of  the  ships  will 
be  entirely  in  you,  in  which  I  am  persuaded  that  what- 
ever authority  his  rank  might  in  strictness  give  him, 
he  will  not  have  the  least  desire  to  interfere  with  you. 
There  is  honour  enough  to  be  got  for  both  of  you,  if 
the  expedition  is  conducted  with  a  prudent  unanimity. 
The  circumstance  is  indeed  a  little  unusual;  for  there 
is  not  only  a  junction  of  land  and  sea  forces,  but  there 
is  also  a  junction  of  Frenchmen  and  Americans,  which 
increases  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  good  under- 
standing; a  cool  prudent  conduct  in  the  chiefs  is  there- 
fore the  more  necessary,  and  I  trust  neither  of  you  will 
in  that  respect  be  deficient.  With  my  best  wishes  for 
your  success,  health,  and  honour,  I  remain,  dear  Sir, 
your  affectionate  and  most  obedient  servant, 

B.  Franklin. 

Franklin  sent  with  this  letter  official  instructions 
containing  a  prohibition  against  following  England's 
example  in  the  wanton  destruction  of  property,  ex- 
pressly forbidding  the  burning  of  any  town  except  in 
case  of  the  refusal  of  a  reasonable  ransom. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  405 

On  the  same  27th  of  April,  as  the  result  of  his  con- 
sultations with  Franklin,  Lafayette  wrote  for  the  first 
time  to  Paul  Jones,  expressing  the  confidence  which  he 
had  immediately  conceived  for  the  man  whose  genius 
and  ambitions  were  so  peculiarly  sympathetic  to  his 
own.  The  plans  which  had  been  concerted  between 
Jones  and  Lafayette  in  consultation  with  Count  Gar- 
nier  had  not  been  communicated  by  Jones  to  M.  de 
Chaumont,  and  Jones  was  displeased  when  he  found 
that  he  had  become  aware  of  them.  Lafayette  evi- 
dently shared  this  feeling,  for  he  wrote  that  M.  de 
Chaumont  was  "determined"  to  undertake  the  journey 
to  L'Orient.  Lafayette  also  wrote  that  he  considered 
it  inadvisable  that  any  military  should  be  put  upon  the 
Alliance,  for  he  had  had  a  full  experience  of  Landais's 
eccentricities  during  his  passage  across  the  Atlantic, 
and  he  gave  as  his  reason  that  he  feared  that  Cap- 
tain Landais  would  get  into  trouble  with  his  officers. 
"Although  this  command  is  not  equal  to  my  military 
rank,"  Lafayette  wrote,  "the  love  of  the  common 
cause  makes  me  very  happy  to  undertake  it,  and  as 
this  motive  is  the  only  one  which  controlls  all  my  pri- 
vate and  public  affairs,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  find  in 
you  the  same  zeal,  and  we  shall  do  as  much  and  more 
than  any  others  in  the  same  situation."  He  concluded 
his  letter  with  the  warmest  expressions  of  friendship, 
and  a  promise,  which  he  loyally  kept  to  the  close  of  his 
life,  that  that  friendship  should  never  end.  "Be  cer- 
tain, my  dear  Sir,  that  I  shall  be  happy  to  divide  with 
you  whatever  share  of  glory  may  await  us,  and  that 
my  esteem  and  affection  for  you  is  truly  felt,  and  will 
last  forever." 


406  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  messenger  who  brought  these  letters  to  Paul 
Jones  might  well  have  come  from  Olympian  heights. 
Not  even  in  the  hour  of  the  unique  victory  which  was 
to  crown  his  brief  career  could  his  glory-loving  heart 
have  felt  a  deeper,  more  satisfying  happiness  than 
when  he  read  these  words  of  affection  and  confidence 
from  Lafayette  and  Franklin. 

On  the  day  of  their  arrival  he  sent  the  following 
replies  expressing  in  almost  solemn  engagements  his  in- 
tention of  meriting  their  confidence: 

L'Orient  May  1,  1779. 
Major  General  De  La  Fayette, — 

I  have,  my  dear  Marquis,  this  day  had  the  singular 
pleasure  of  receiving  your  very  esteemed  letter  by  the 
hands  of  M.  de  Chaumont;  so  flattering  and  affection- 
ate a  proof  of  your  esteem  and  friendship  has  made  an 
impression  on  my  mind  that  will  attend  me  while  I  live. 
This  I  hope  to  prove  by  more  than  words.  Where  men 
of  fine  feelings  are  concerned  there  is  seldom  misunder- 
standing; and  I  am  sure  I  should  do  violence  to  my 
sensibility  if  I  were  capable  of  giving  you  a  moment's 
pain  by  any  part  of  my  conduct.  Therefore,  without 
any  apology,  I  shall  expect  you  to  point  out  my  errors 
when  we  are  together  alone  with  perfect  freedom,  and 
I  think  I  dare  promise  your  reproof  shall  not  be  lost. 

M.  de  Chaumont  is  now  endeavoring  to  settle  matters 
with  respect  to  the  cannon.  I  hope  he  will  succeed,  and 
if  so,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  may  soon  be  got  ready. 
I  could  say  more  with  respect  to  the  accommodation 
of  the  men.  I  hope  no  difficulty  will  arise,  for  she  can 
carry  350  or  400,  should  there  be  occasion. 

I  have  received  from  the  good  Dr.  Franklin,  instruc- 
tions at  large  which  do  honor  to  his  liberal  mind,  and 
which  it  will  give  me  the  truest  satisfaction  to  execute. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  407 

I  cannot  ensure  success,  but  will  endeavor  to  de- 
serve it. 

With  sincere  esteem  and  affection  of  my  heart,  and 
with  the  truest  regard  and  respect,  I  am  always, 

Yours  &c. 

J.  P.  Jones. 

I/Orient,  May  1,  1779. 
His  Excellency  Benjamin  Franklin, 

Honored  and  Dear  Sir: 
The  letter  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  from  you  to- 
day, together  with  your  liberal  and  noble-minded  in- 
structions, would  make  a  coward  brave.  You  have 
called  up  every  sentiment  of  public  virtue  in  my  breast, 
and  it  shall  be  my  pride  and  my  ambition,  in  the 
strict  pursuit  of  your  instructions,  to  deserve  success. 

Be  assured  that  very  few  prospects  could  afford  me 
so  true  a  satisfaction  as  that  of  rendering  some  ac- 
ceptable service  to  the  common  cause,  and  at  the  same 
time  relieving  from  captivity  (by  furnishing  the  means 
of  exchange)  our  unfortunate  fellow  subjects  from  the 
hands  of  the  enemy. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  return  your  Excellency,  my 
thanks  for  past  instances  of  your  friendship,  especially 
in  the  last  of  your  particular  confidence. 

I  am,  and  shall  be  to  the  end  of  my  life,  with  the 
most  affectionate  esteem  and  respect, 

Honored  and  Dear  Sir, 

Yours  &c. 

Paul  Jones  had  need  of  the  strength  which  always 
came  to  him  from  the  encouragement  and  appreciation 
of  his  friends,  for  his  health  had  so  severely  suffered  by 
his  constant  journeyings  that  he  was  obliged  to  take 
to  his  bed. 


408  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Under  these  conditions  the  business  of  recruiting  the 
seamen  proceeded  with  difficulty.  The  volunteers  who 
had  been  enrolled  at  Nantes  were  all  sent  back  as  being 
entirely  unfit  for  service.  Jones  had  fortunately  been 
able  to  engage  thirty  reliable  seamen  from  among  some 
American  prisoners  who  had  been  sent  to  L'Orient  in  a 
cartel,  but  he  was  compelled  to  recruit  also  a  number 
of  raw  French  peasants  from  the  neighboring  fields  to 
make  up  the  necessary  complement,  and  believing 
that  the  soldiers  who  were  to  sail  with  him  under 
Lafayette's  command  would  keep  them  in  order,  he 
also  shipped  a  number  of  English  prisoners  from  the 
jails  of  Brest  and  Saint  Malo,  making,  as  he  declared, 
"as  bad  a  crew  as  was  ever  embarked  on  any  vessel." 
The  cannon  had  failed  to  arrive  from  Angouleme  for 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  he  therefore  armed  her 
with  an  old  battery  of  twenty-eight  nine  and  twelve 
pounders  on  the  main  deck,  and  placed  six  old  eighteen- 
pounders  on  the  gun-deck.  This  was  an  exceedingly 
dangerous  proceeding,  except  in  smooth  water,  which 
Jones  explained  he  expected  to  find  in  the  enemy's 
harbors.  These,  with  the  cannon  of  the  forecastle 
and  quarter-deck,  brought  her  armament  to  forty-two 
guns.  The  zealous  M.  de  Chaumont  had  purchased 
the  Pallas,  a  merchant-ship  which  he  had  found  at 
Nantes,  and  fitted  her  up  in  the  greatest  possible  haste 
with  thirty-two  twelve-pounders.  A  small  brig,  the 
Vengeance,  he  had  also  mounted  with  twelve  three- 
pounders.  This  ship  now  arrived  at  L'Orient  to  join 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  as  well  as  the  Cerf,  a  fine 
cutter  from  the  royal  marine,  and  the  Alliance  of 
thirty-six  guns,  which,  according  to  Jones's  request,  had 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  409 

been  added  to  his  force.  These  five  ships  made  up 
Jones's  little  squadron,  and  the  last  two  were  actually 
the  only  ones  which  were  fit  for  service.  The  soldiers 
were  ordered  to  embark,  and  Jones  was  waiting  for 
Lafayette's  arrival  when  a  letter  came  from  him  an- 
nouncing that,  owing  to  the  indiscreet  communication 
of  the  secret  of  the  expedition  to  M.  de  Chaumont, 
the  minister  had  ordered  that  the  troops  should  not 
sail  and  that  Lafayette  should  rejoin  his  regiment. 
Again  disappointment  destroyed  the  ardent  hopes  of 
Paul  Jones  at  the  very  moment  when  they  seemed  about 
to  be  realized.  The  original  plan  of  the  expedition, 
which  was  no  less  than  to  lay  Liverpool  under  contri- 
bution, as  well  as  those  which  Jones  had  secretly  per- 
fected with  Count  Gamier,  were  also  all  abandoned  in 
favor  of  a  much  less  important  expedition  with  four 
ships  furnished  by  the  Swedish  minister. 

At  this  unhappy  moment  Jones  was  also  informed 
that  Count  Gamier  had  been  superseded,  as  adviser 
and  representative  of  the  minister,  by  M.  de  Chau- 
mont. Count  Gamier  had  been  promised  the  post  of 
minister  to  the  United  States,  a  promise  which  was 
barren  of  result,  and  M.  de  Chaumont,  as  the  direct 
representative  of  the  court,  assumed  not  only  the 
office  of  commissary  for  the  equipment  of  the  ships, 
but  took  to  himself,  in  virtue  of  his  high  authority,  the 
position  of  general  manager  of  the  entire  squadron. 

The  responsibility  of  communicating  the  secret  of 
the  expedition  to  M.  de  Chaumont  lay  at  the  door  of 
M.  de  Sartine,  as  the  following  letter  from  Lafayette 
to  the  Count  de  Vergennes  discloses: 


410  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

France,  Archives  Etrangeres, 
(Translation) 

Paris,  1st  April  1779 
To  the  Count  de  Vergennes: — 

Sir:— 

From  what  M.  de  Sartine  has  said  to  me,  I  re- 
quested M.  de  Chaumont  yesterday  to  send  and  seek 
for  Captain  Jones,  and  although  the  place  of  his  pres- 
ent residence  is  unknown,  our  messenger  will  do  all 
that  he  possibly  can  to  bring  him  immediately.  I  en- 
trusted to  him  a  somewhat  urgent  letter  for  Jones,  and 
as  Dr.  Franklin  was  not  at  home,  I  left  one  also  for  him, 
in  which  I  gave  our  desire  to  see  the  captain,  the 
appearance  of  a  consultation,  rather  than  that  of  any 
definite  plan. 

The  time  I  passed  with  M.  de  Chaumont  enabled  me 
to  learn  what  I  shall  now  have  the  honor  of  confiding  to 
you.  The  armament  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  (the 
vessel  of  fifty  guns)  goes  on  in  the  slowest  possible 
manner.  The  refusal  of  the  stores  from  the  King's 
magazine,  especially  the  guns,  will  retard  our  expedi- 
tion for  a  whole  month,  because  it  will  be  the  same 
for  all  the  other  ships.  The  only  way  to  obviate  such 
delay  would  be  to  put  one  man  in  charge  of  this  arma- 
ment, and  send  him  to  the  ports  with  orders  to  take 
all  that  was  necessary.  I  have  discovered  that  Jones 
had  a  little  plan  for  an  enterprise,  formed  under  the 
direction  of  Gamier,  and  in  which  M.  de  Chaumont 
is  concerned.  From  the  manner  in  which  M.  de 
Sartine  sent  for  him,  making  M.  de  Chaumont  a  half 
confidant,  (the  most  dangerous  of  all  things  because 
it  gives  information,  without  binding  to  secrecy)  I 
think  it  would  now  be  as  well  to  communicate  to  him 
the  secret  of  the  armament,  without  betraying  that  of 
the  expedition,  and  to  charge  him  to  employ  therein 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  411 

all  his  activity.  The  other  person,  (Gamier)  need  no 
longer  in  that  case  take  any  part  in  it,  and  according 
to  the  orders  received  by  M.  de  Sartine,  it  appeared  to 
me,  from  what  M.  de  Chaumont  said,  that  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  and  other  vessels,  would  be  in  readi- 
ness before  the  expiration  of  three  weeks. 

I  intend  to  have  the  honor  of  paying  my  respects  to 
you  after  dinner  on  Saturday.  If  you  approve  of  my 
idea,  M.  Le  Compte,  M.  de  Chaumont,  or  any  other 
person  you  please,  might  be  summoned  at  the  same 
time;  for  by  ordinary  methods  we  shall  never  finish. 

I  hope  that  in  consideration  of  my  aversion  to  delays 
in  military  affairs,  and  for  the  sake  of  a  project  which 
you  approve,  you  will  be  good  enough  to  pardon  the 
trouble  which  my  confidence  gives  you. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  very  sincere  respect  and 
attachment,  M.  le  Compte, 

Your  very  humble  and  very  obedient  servant. 

The  generous  offer  made  by  M.  de  Chaumont  to 
Lafayette,  to  supply  him  with  the  necessary  funds 
for  the  armament  of  the  squadron,  was  evidently  the 
cause  of  the  enlargement  of  the  powers  of  M.  de  Chau- 
mont, as  well  as  the  confidential  relation  which  he  en- 
joyed with  M.  de  Sartine  and  the  King  himself. 

M.  de  Chaumont  had  not  been  fitted  by  his  experi- 
ence as  a  manufacturer  of  ceramics,  or  by  his  late 
honorable  prerogatives  as  "Maitre  des  Eaux  et  des 
Forets,"  for  such  powers,  and  his  indiscretion  and 
the  extraordinary  orders  which  he  issued  more  than 
justified  Jones's  apprehensions.  In  spite  of  the  un- 
fortunate result  of  his  revelation  of  the  secret  of  the 
proposed  expedition,  M.  de  Chaumont  continued  his 
misdirected  efforts  to  establish  rules  for  the  manage- 


412  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ment  of  the  little  squadron,  and  on  the  10th  and  14th 
of  June  issued  written  orders  forbidding  Jones  to  re- 
quire any  services  from  the  ships  under  his  ostensible 
command,  which  differed  from  the  designs  of  their 
respective  captains.  The  four  captains,  Cottineau  of 
the  Pallas j  Ricot  of  the  Vengeance,  Varage  of  the  Cerf, 
and  Landais  of  the  Alliance,  who  were  severally  placed 
on  these  vessels  under  the  orders  of  M.  de  Chaumont, 
therefore  considered  themselves  perfectly  free  to  carry 
out  their  own  ideas  without  any  reference  to  Jones. 
Moreover,  M.  de  Chaumont,  by  instilling  the  idea 
into  the  entire  personnel  of  the  squadron  that  he 
was  the  manager  of  the  expedition  and  the  agent  of 
the  King,  caused  the  opinion  to  prevail  that  it  was  a 
French  squadron,  and  that  its  captain  was  a  stranger 
to  be  viewed  with  suspicion.  "According  to  my 
opinion,"  wrote  Jones  to  the  King,  "it  was  hardly  pos- 
sible for  the  commissary  to  render  a  worse  service  to 
his  country,  as  the  King  had  made  the  generous  reso- 
lution to  maintain  at  his  own  expense  and  under  the 
American  flag,  the  squadron  which  he  had  confided  to 
my  direction,  and  as  I  had  given  all  the  commissions 
to  the  American  officers,  it  was  important  for  the  good 
of  the  service  that  they  should  believe  that  they  were 
in  the  service  of  the  Congress,  and  that  the  squadron 
belonged  to  the  United  States." 

All  hopes  of  harmonious  action  were  lost  by  the 
strange  directions  of  M.  de  Chaumont.  In  spite  of 
these  unheard-of  hindrances  and  complications,  Jones 
attempted  to  establish  the  best  possible  relations  with 
his  associated  captains,  and  to  keep  his  temper  with  the 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  413 

commissary,  whose  errors  he  believed  were  of  "the  head 
and  not  of  the  heart."  Two  of  the  best  officers  on  the 
Alliance  deserted  at  this  juncture  on  account  of  their 
difficulties  with  Landais;  Jones  permitted  this  in  hopes 
of  maintaining  harmony  on  the  best  ship  of  his  squad- 
ron, writing  carefully  to  John  Adams  to  inform  him 
as  to  the  actual  causes  of  the  difficulty.  He  was  still 
expecting  that  Lafayette  would  eventually  join  him 
when  he  received  a  letter  from  the  marquis  informing 
him  that  their  happy  idea  of  a  joint  expedition  must 
be  definitely  abandoned. 

At  the  moment  of  receiving  this  disappointing  in- 
telligence Jones  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Franklin, 
showing  that  he  was  able,  in  this  instance  at  least,  to 
accept  the  inevitable  with  philosophy: 

L'Orient,  May  22,  1779 
Honored  and  Dear  Sir: — 

Since  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  kind  and  polite 
letter  of  the  10th,  I  have  waited  with  impatient 
expectation  of  seeing  the  Marquis  here.  The  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  the  Alliance,  the  Pallas,  and  Cerf,  and 
the  Vengeance  are  now  ready  in  the  road,  for  the 
embarkment  of  the  troops.  This  little  armament  was 
not  I  may  say  begun  before  the  12th  of  this  month; 
since  then  the  people  concerned  in  it  have  been  em- 
ployed night  and  day,  and  I  have  flattered  myself  with 
hopes  of  success  and  honor.  Judge  then  of  my  dis- 
appointment when  instead  of  seeing  the  Marquis,  I 
have  received  a  letter  from  him  in  which  he  tells  me 
that  "the  king's  disposition  is  entirely  changed,  and 
that  instead  of  meeting  me  here,  he  is  now  going  to 
take  command  of  the  King's  regiment  at  Saints." 
Extraordinary  as  this  change  is,  it  is  not  my  place  to 


414  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

inquire  into  the  reasons  for  it,  and  tho'  the  expense  of 
the  armament  may  perhaps  exceed  the  usual  amount, 
I  am  certain  that  the  alteration  cannot  be  attributed 
to  any  want  of  activity  on  my  part.  I  am  ready  to 
follow  any  plan  you  please  to  adopt,  or  if  anything  is 
left  to  me,  you  may  depend  on  my  best  endeavors 
either  in  Europe  or  America.  It  would  have  added 
greatly  indeed  to  my  happiness  to  have  been  joined  in 
command  with  a  character  so  amiable  as  the  Marquis, 
and  I  am  very  unwilling  to  drop  the  expectation  of  his 
coming  here.  His  letter  was  but  this  moment  brought 
to  my  hands,  and  to  save  the  post  I  am  obliged  to 
shorten  my  letter. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  honest  affection  and 
esteem  in  all  changes, 

Honored  and  Dear  Sir, 
Your  very  obliged  friend,  and  obliged  servant. 

The  reason  for  the  change  in  the  plans  of  the  French 
Government  arose  from  intimations  which  were  com- 
municated to  the  King  by  his  uncle  of  Spain  that  he 
was  about  to  join  in  the  war  against  England.  M.  de 
Sartine  now  planned  what  Franklin  in  a  private  let- 
ter called  "the  grand  invasion,"  which  was,  indeed,  a 
project  for  a  general  attack  upon  England  by  the 
combined  forces  of  France  and  Spain.  Preparations  for 
this  extensive  design  were  put  into  active  progress,  and 
Lafayette,  as  the  destined  commander  of  the  land 
forces,  was  compelled  to  withdraw  from  the  expedition 
planned  for  Jones's  small  squadron.  "I  dare  say,"  the 
marquis  wrote  to  Jones  on  the  22d  of  May,  "that  you 
will  be  very  sorry  to  hear  that  our  plans  have  been 
quite  altered.  I  can  only  tell  you  how  sorry  I  feel  not 
to  be  a  witness  of  your  success,  abilities,  and  glory." 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  415 

With  the  definite  withdrawal  of  Lafayette  and  his 
soldiers  the  prospects  of  controlling  his  motley  crew, 
with  its  dangerous  force  of  English  prisoners,  became 
exceedingly  doubtful,  but  Jones  had  no  alternative  but 
to  await  sailing  orders  from  Franklin,  which  finally 
arrived  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  communicating  to  him 
Sartine's  desire  that  he  should  go  out  in  a  short  pre- 
liminary cruise,  in  which  he  was  to  convoy  some  mer- 
chant-ships from  L'Orient  to  Bordeaux  and  to  chase 
the  enemy's  ships  out  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Although 
by  no  means  corresponding  with  the  ambitious  plans 
which  he  had  made,  Jones  proceeded  to  obey  these 
orders  with  his  customary  alacrity,  and  put  to  sea  in 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  together  with  the  other  ships 
of  his  squadron  and  his  convoy  of  merchantmen,  on 
the  19th  of  June.  This  little  expedition  was  destined 
to  be  fruitful  in  many  lessons  but  few  results.  On  the 
20th  his  long  series  of  difficulties  with  Landais  began; 
during  the  night  the  Alliance  came  into  collision  with 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard  on  account  of  Landais  refus- 
ing to  give  his  commander's  ship  the  right  of  way. 
Considerable  damage  was  done  to  both  of  the  ships, 
the  Richard  losing  her  cut-water  and  jib-boom,  and 
the  Alliance  her  mizzen-mast.  The  blame  for  this 
accident  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  insubordination  of 
Landais  in  deliberately  disregarding  Jones's  signal,  and 
to  his  disgraceful  cowardice  at  the  moment  of  the  ac- 
cident, when  he  gave  no  orders,  but  ran  below  to  load 
his  pistols,  leaving  his  vessel  to  be  extricated  from  her 
dangerous  situation  by  his  subordinates.  Jones  was 
below  at  the  time  of  this  accident,  but  immediately 


416  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

took  command  in  the  place  of  his  own  inefficient  of- 
ficer of  the  watch,  and  succeeded  in  separating  the 
ships.  The  two  vessels  were  repaired  with  all  speed 
and  Jones  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  orders.  After 
escorting  his  convoy  to  Bordeaux,  he  went  into  the  Bay 
of  Biscay,  and  in  his  effort  to  come  up  with  various 
English  ships  he  found,  to  his  infinite  annoyance,  that 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  a  hopelessly  dull  sailer. 
His  fears  of  trouble  with  the  English  prisoners  were 
also  quickly  realized,  for  they  formed  a  plot  to  take 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  which  was  fortunately  dis- 
covered in  time  and  its  ringleaders  put  in  irons.  Jones's 
conduct  of  this  short  and  relatively  unimportant  cruise 
is  full  of  indications  of  his  character  and  of  his  aptitude 
for  command.  Confronted  with  a  disabling  accident 
and  the  dangers  of  a  formidable  plot  to  take  the  ship, 
he  immediately  attempted  to  improve  the  efficiency  of 
his  officers  by  issuing  complete  and  detailed  rules  for 
their  direction,  and  by  constant  and  personal  consulta- 
tion. 

On  the  day  after  the  collision  he  sent  the  Cerf,  as 
being  the  fastest  ship  in  his  squadron,  to  reconnoitre 
two  sail.  After  a  sharp  engagement  the  Cerf  came  up 
with  one  of  them,  a  sloop  of  fourteen  guns,  and  capt- 
ured her,  but  on  the  approach  of  a  superior  force  was 
compelled  to  abandon  the  prize  and  return  to  L'Orient 
to  refit.  On  the  22d  three  ships  of  war  appeared  to 
windward  and  bore  down  in  order,  but,  finding  Jones 
ready  to  engage,  escaped  by  superior  sailing.  A  few 
days  later  the  Alliance  and  the  Pallas  were  lost  in  a 
thick  fog,  and  when  the  two  remaining  ships  came  in 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  417 

sight  of  the  Island  of  Groix,  off  L'Orient,  on  the  26th, 
in  a  contrary  gale,  Jones  gave  the  Vengeance  permission 
to  make  her  way  into  port  as  best  she  could. 

The  time  allotted  to  him  in  his  orders  now  being 
elapsed,  Jones  prepared  to  return  to  L'Orient,  when  he 
found  himself  at  nightfall  in  close  proximity  to  two 
large  British  frigates.  He  was  alone  in  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  and  chased  by  the  frigates,  who  were 
rapidly  overtaking  him.  He  immediately  tacked  to 
engage  them,  but  when  they  perceived  his  intentions 
the  frigates  ran  away,  and,  as  he  related,  "to  his  great 
mortification  outsailed  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and 
got  clear."  Thus  Jones  lost  an  opportunity,  so  brill- 
iantly exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  engagement  of  the 
Constitution  with  the  Cygne  and  the  Levant  in  the  War 
of  1812,  of  beating  two  superior  English  frigates  at 
once.  "I  would  have  taken  them  both  together,"  he 
declared,  "if  I  had  been  able  to  get  between  them  as 
had  been  my  intention." 

An  entry  in  the  log-book  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
gives  an  account  of  Jones's  dealing  with  his  officers  on 
this  occasion: 


30th  June.  At  half  past  7  p.  m.  saw  two  sail  bear- 
ing down  upon  us,  one  with  a  flag  at  each  mast  head. 
Hove  about  and  stood  from  them  to  get  in  readiness 
for  action;  then  hove  mizzen-topsail  to  the  mast,  down 
all  stay-sails  and  up  mizzen-sail.  Then  they  hove 
about  and  stood  from  us.  Immediately  we  tacked 
ship  and  stood  after  them. 

After  which  they  wore  ship  and  stood  for  us.  Cap- 
tain Jones,  gentleman-like,  called  all  his  officers,  and 


418  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

consulted  them  whether  they  were  willing  to  see  them. 
They  all  said,  Yes.  Made  sail  after  them;  but  they, 
being  better  sailors  than  we,  got  from  us.  At  1  a.  m. 
tacked  ship. 

An  interesting  example  of  his  methods  of  getting  the 
very  best  possible  service  out  of  his  crews  is  contained 
in  the  written  acknowledgment  of  his  appreciation  of 
the  conduct  of  his  officers  and  men  on  the  eve  of  the 
expected  engagement  with  the  frigates: 

It  is  with  singular  satisfaction  that  the  Captain 
returns  his  thanks  to  the  officers  and  men  for  the  noble 
ardour  and  marshall  spirit  which  they  manifested  last 
night  when  in  chase  of  two  ships  of  war,  which  ap- 
peared to  be  Enemies,  whom  we  expected  every  mo- 
ment to  engage. — 

But  who  saved  themselves  by  their  superior  swift- 
ness of  sailing  and  by  a  most  shameful  Flight. — 

The  ship  is  now  bound  into  port  for  a  few  days,  after 
which  we  shall  depart  again  better  fitted; — and  it  shall 
be  the  Captain's  endeavor  to  search  after  a  Fortune 
equal  to  the  Merit  of  every  Man,  of  every  free  Ameri- 
can and  brave  volunteer  whom  he  has  the  honor  to 
command. — 
Given  on  board  the  American 

Ship  of  War,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 

off  Port  Louis,  the  30th 

Of  June,  1779. 

Some  of  the  men  were  those  very  English  prisoners 
who  had  joined  in  the  plot  to  take  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  but  once  convinced  of  Jones's  capacity  to  pre- 
serve discipline,  and  inspired,  as  his  seamen  never 
failed  to  become  at  the  moment  of  conflict,  by  the 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  419 

example  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  they  evinced  a  spirit 
of  bravery  so  commendable  that  Jones  made  particular 
reference  to  them  in  the  account  of  his  cruise,  which  he 
drew  up  for  Franklin  and  Sartine  on  the  following  day, 
when  he  arrived  at  Groix.  This  report  of  the  30th  of 
June  crossed  on  the  way  to  Paris  new  instructions  for 
a  further  expedition  which  Franklin,  in  ignorance  of 
the  damages  to  the  Alliance  and  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  intended  should  be  carried  out  immediately: 

Being  arrived  at  Groix,  you  are  to  make  the  best 
of  your  way  with  the  vessels  under  your  command  to 
the  West  of  Ireland,  and  establish  your  cruise  on  the 
Orcades,  the  Cape  of  Derneus,  and  the  Dogger  Bank, 
in  order  to  take  the  enemy's  property  in  those  seas. 

The  prizes  you  may  make,  send  to  Dunkirk,  Ostend, 
or  Bergen,  in  Norway,  according  to  your  proximity  to 
either  of  those  ports.  Address  them  to  the  persons 
M.  de  Chaumont  shall  indicate  to  you. 

About  the  15th  of  August,  when  you  will  have  suffi- 
ciently cruised  in  these  seas,  you  are  to  make  route 
for  the  Texel,  where  you  will  meet  my  further  orders. 

If  by  any  personal  accident  you  should  be  rendered 
unable  to  execute  these  instructions,  the  officer  of  your 
squadron  next  in  rank  is  to  endeavor  to  put  them  in 
execution. 

The  slow  sailing  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  as 
shown  in  this  first  cruise,  had  naturally  been  a  severe 
disappointment  to  Jones,  and  his  discontent  with  his 
vessel  was  further  increased  by  the  discovery  that  her 
timbers  were  too  old  and  rotten  to  permit  of  some 
alterations  which  he  had  contemplated. 

He  therefore  reported  these  facts  to  Franklin,  asking 


420  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

if  there  might  not  be  now  a  chance  for  the  Indien, 
saying  that  he  wished  "for  an  opportunity  of  attempt- 
ing an  essential  service  to  render  himself  worthy  a 
better  and  faster  sailing  ship."  He  also  suggested  a 
change  in  the  destination  of  his  next  cruise,  to  which 
Franklin  replied  that  no  alteration  in  Jones's  present 
orders  could  then  be  expected,  but  he  hinted  by  way 
of  encouragement  that  he  believed  the  French  minister 
had  chosen  the  Texel  as  the  ultimate  destination  of 
the  cruise,  with  the  idea  of  there  giving  Jones  the 
command  of  the  Indien. 

The  degree  of  equanimity  with  which  Paul  Jones 
accepted  this  ultimatum  probably  drew  largely  upon 
his  limited  store  of  philosophy.  He  had  "almost  half- 
killed  himself "  in  his  efforts  to  get  his  ship,  and  on 
the  first  trial  of  her  qualities  found  that  she  was 
hopelessly  slow — in  fact,  the  dullest  sailer  of  the  whole 
squadron.  The  cannon  for  which  he  had  taken  ex- 
hausting journeys  over  nearly  the  whole  of  France 
failed  to  arrive,  and  his  guns  were  old,  like  his  vessel, 
and  had  most  of  them  been  condemned  by  the  French 
Government;  but  the  die  was  cast,  it  was  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  or  nothing,  and  he  was  ready  to  risk 
all  on  the  hope  of  some  desperate  chance,  where  her 
slow  sailing  might  not  hinder  him.  In  this  temper  he 
proceeded  with  all  haste  to  the  business  of  refitting 
his  ship,  but  here  again  he  was  met  with  the  usual 
delays  and  complications.  In  the  interval  of  prepara- 
tion, M.  de  Chaumont  sent  orders  from  Paris  for  the 
Pallas  and  the  Vengeance  to  go  out  cruising  for  priva- 
teers, a  proceeding  which  caused  Jones  great  annoyance 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  421 

on  account  of  the  delay  which  their  possible  disable- 
ment might  entail  upon  the  immediate  sailing  of  the 
whole  squadron  and  the  execution  of  his  orders  from 
Franklin. 

M.  de  Chaumont  was  at  this  juncture  again  in  Paris 
and  in  consultation  with  Franklin,  and  was  also  in- 
formed by  Sartine  of  the  plans  adopted  for  this  second 
expedition. 

With  the  disastrous  result  of  the  commissary's  indis- 
cretion in  revealing  the  secret  of  the  joint  expedition 
with  Lafayette  still  fresh  in  his  mind,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  Jones  was  annoyed  to  find  that  M.  de 
Chaumont  had  divulged  the  destination  of  his  approach- 
ing cruises  to  various  officers  at  L'Orient.  "This  is 
surely  a  strange  infatuation,"  he  wrote  to  Franklin, 
"and  it  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  one  of  the  best 
hearts  in  the  world  should  be  connected  with  a  mis- 
taken head,  whose  errors  may  affect  the  ruin  and  dis- 
honor of  the  man  whom  he  esteems  and  loves." 

These  apprehensions  were  not  the  only  preoccupa- 
tions of  these  anxious  days,  for  Jones's  time  was  now 
taken  up  with  courts-martial  assembled  to  try  the  ring- 
leaders of  the  plot  which  had  been  discovered  during 
his  recent  cruise.  These  men,  two  quartermasters, 
were  convicted  and  condemned  to  death,  but,  to  Jones's 
relief,  the  sentence  was  changed  to  severe  flogging  with 
the  "cat-o'-nine-tails." 

The  officer  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  whose  care- 
lessness had  contributed  to  the  collision  with  the  Alli- 
ance was  also  tried  and  broken.  These  unfortunate 
occurrences  were  reported  to  Sartine,  who  immediately 


422  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

formed  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
squadron,  and  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  in  particu- 
lar, which  Jones  was  now  eager  to  reverse.  In  these 
unpleasant  occupations  many  weeks  dragged  by.  Noth- 
ing tried  his  patience  more  severely  than  delay,  but  in 
this  instance  it  was  providential,  for  it  gave  him  the 
opportunity  of  improving  the  character  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard's  crew. 

The  minister,  thinking  it  wise  to  control  the  dan- 
gerous element  among  Jones's  seamen,  sent  a  force  of 
marines  to  join  the  ship  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Chamillard  de  Warville  and  Colonel  Weibert,  two 
officers  recommended  by  Lafayette.  One  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  Portuguese  seamen,  lately  arrived  at 
L'Orient  in  the  Epervier,  were  also  added  to  his  force. 
When  the  news  came  that  a  cartel  of  American  pris- 
oners had  arrived  at  Nantes,  Jones  sent  his  master,  Mr. 
Cutting  Lunt,  to  that  port  to  recruit  as  many  as  possible. 
Among  these  men,  who  were  destined  to  render  him 
such  heroic  support  in  the  celebrated  cruises  on  which 
he  was  now  to  embark,  was  Richard  Dale,  then  but 
twenty-three  years  old  and  just  emerged  from  a 
two  years'  captivity  in  the  mill  prison  at  Portsmouth; 
youthful  and  in  ill  health  from  his  rigorous  and  long 
confinement,  Jones  immediately  recognized  his  char- 
acter and  capacity,  and  gave  him  a  commission  as 
first  lieutenant  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  These 
American  seamen  were  the  bone  and  sinew  of  his  crew, 
without  whose  honesty  and  courage  the  story  of  the 
cruise  and  the  fame  of  its  commander  might  have 
borne  a  different  character  in  history.    The  business 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  423 

of  recruiting  seamen  was  by  no  means  left  to  his 
officers,  for,  in  spite  of  his  poor  health,  resulting  from 
the  trials  and  fatigues  of  the  winter,  Jones  spared 
neither  time  nor  trouble  to  persuade  any  likely  seaman 
whom  he  found  at  L'Orient  to  ship  with  him.  Among 
those  who  had  joined  the  Alliance,  possibly  on  her 
arrival  at  Nantes,  were  Thomas  Chase  and  Joe  Fred- 
erick, both  released  from  the  English  prisons,  and  im- 
mediately recognized  by  Jones.  An  amusing  account 
of  his  methods  of  inducing  seamen  to  sign  the  ship's 
articles  is  left  by  Nathaniel  Fanning  in  his  records  of 
his  experiences  under  Jones's  command.1 

The  crew  of  the  Richard  was  now  swelled  by  these 
various  additions  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty  men  and  boys,  including  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  marines.  Among  the  officers  of  all  de- 
grees, according  to  the  official  list  published  by  Sher- 
burne from  Jones's  papers,  there  were  eight  Americans, 
two  French,  and  six  British,  including  the  commodore 
and  the  two  surgeon's  mates.  Dale  was  first  lieuten- 
ant, Henry  and  Cutting  Lunt  were  second  and  third 
lieutenants,  and  Samuel  Stacy  and  Lawrence  Brooke 
were  master  and  surgeon,  respectively.  Lieutenants 
Stack,  McCarthy,  and  O'Kelly,  from  Walsh's  Irish  reg- 
iment, were  officers  of  the  marines  under  Chamillard 
and  Weibert,  and  John  White  was  first  mate.    Thomas 


1  "His  smoothness  of  tongue  and  flattery  to  seamen  when  he  wanted 
them  was  persuasive,  and  in  which  he  excelled  any  other  man  I  was 
ever  acquainted  with.  In  fact,  I  have  seen  him  walk  to  and  fro  upon 
the  quay  in  L'Orient  for  hours  together  with  a  single  seaman,  in  order 
to  persuade  him  to  sign  the  ship's  articles  (which  he  commanded)  and 
in  which  he  was  often  successful." 


424  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Potter,  Nathaniel  Fanning,  with  about  seventy  other 
Americans,  were  enrolled  as  midshipmen  and  seamen, 
and  the  others,  full  four-fifths  of  the  ship's  company, 
were  a  motley  collection  of  Portuguese,  Malays,  and 
Swedes,  together  with  the  English  prisoners  whom, 
with  great  reluctance,  Jones  was  forced  to  retain  to 
make  up  the  necessary  complement.  They  were  nearly 
a  hundred  in  number,  and  represented  a  most  danger- 
ous element  of  insubordination  and  possibly  mutiny. 

Six  weeks  had  now  passed  by  since  Jones  had  re- 
turned to  port  to  refit  his  ship,  and  the  time  was  at 
hand  once  more  to  put  to  sea.  The  period  allotted  for 
the  duration  of  the  cruise  was  lengthened  by  Franklin 
to  the  end  of  September,  at  Jones's  request,  and  his 
spirit  was  further  encouraged  by  the  evident  harmony 
which  seemed  at  that  time  to  exist  among  the  captains 
of  the  squadron,  when,  to  Jones's  infinite  annoyance, 
his  zealous  friend,  the  commissary,  once  more  appeared 
at  L'Orient,  and  at  the  last  moment  imposed  upon  him 
a  strange  paper  called  the  "Concordat."  This  "Con- 
cordat" was  the  most  extraordinary  document  ever  con- 
ceived for  the  confounding  of  the  commander-in-chief  of 
a  squadron.  The  orders  which  had  already  been  issued 
to  Jones  by  M.  de  Chaumont  before  his  first  cruise, 
expressly  forbidding  him  to  require  any  services  from 
the  ships  of  his  squadron  which  would  interfere  with  the 
orders  of  their  respective  captains,  were  confirmed  by 
the  terms  of  the  "Concordat,"  which  now  deprived 
Jones  of  the  least  shadow  of  that  unconditional  au- 
thority which  should  have  belonged  to  him  as  the 
superior  officer  of  the  squadron. 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  425 

The  several  captains  were  ordered  by  the  minister, 
through  M.  de  Chaumont,  to  act  solely  under  the  brevet 
of  the  United  States,  but  were  in  no  manner  required 
to  yield  obedience  to  their  commander,  except  as  it 
suited  their  discretion.  Other  articles  provided  that 
the  prizes  should  be  sent  to  consignees  of  M.  de  Chau- 
mont's  selection,  for  the  reason  that  he  had  supplied 
the  expenses  of  the  armament,  and  that  the  division 
of  the  prize-money,  although  governed  by  American 
laws,  should  in  reality  be  administered  solely  by  M. 
de  Chaumont  himself,  to  whom  every  member  of  the 
expedition  should  apply  for  his  proportion.  This  ir- 
regular arrangement  was  productive  of  great  injustice 
in  the  matter  of  the  award  of  the  prize-money,  and  an 
interminable  delay  in  its  distribution. 

This  extraordinary  paper  was  levelled  at  Jones's  head 
at  the  very  moment  of  his  departure,  but  as  the  com- 
missary asserted  that  he  represented  Sartine,  with 
full  power  to  remove  Jones  from  the  command  of  the 
squadron,  and  as  all  the  other  officers  had  affixed 
their  signatures,  Jones  found  himself  compelled  to  sign 
his  name  to  the  detested  paper.  "Under  any  other 
circumstances,  and  at  any  other  time,"  he  wrote  to  the 
King,  "I  should  have  rejected  this  proposal  with  dis- 
dain. I  saw  all  the  dangers  which  I  was  incurring,  but 
as  I  had  announced  in  America  that  I  had  remained  in 
Europe  at  the  request  of  the  French  Court,  I  decided 
to  risk  them  all."1  No  adequate  reason  for  the  issuing 
of  this  paper  has  ever  been  advanced  by  any  of  Jones's 
biographers.    The  manifest  inexperience  and  ill  judg- 

1  Appendix  G. 


426  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ment  of  its  author,  added  to  his  desire  to  realize  some 
profit  on  his  investments  in  the  expedition  of  the  allied 
powers,  undoubtedly  furnished  M.  de  Chaumont's  per- 
sonal reasons  for  imposing  it  upon  Jones,  and  the 
"cabals"  of  the  jealous  French  officers  which,  as  Jones 
relates,  were  so  "high  and  dangerous"  as  to  have 
brought  about  his  instant  assassination,  if  the  minister 
had  diverted  any  considerable  force  to  his  command, 
undoubtedly  influenced  Sartine's  approval  of  the  agree- 
ment. To  sail  under  the  absolute  authority  of  a  little- 
known  officer  of  so  new  a  power  as  the  United  States 
was  possibly  more  than  any  French  officer  was  willing 
to  submit  to.1 

The  self-control  which  the  long  winter  of  disappoint- 
ments and  delays  had  taught  him  enabled  him  now  to 

1  John  Adams,  who  had  come  to  L'Orient  with  the  expectation  of 
returning  to  America  on  the  Alliance,  gives  the  following  account  of  a 
dinner  given  by  Jones  to  the  various  officers  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
and  Alliance. 

JOHN  ADAMS'S  DIARY. 

"Thursday.  Went  on  shore  and  dined  with  Captain  Jones  at  the 
Epee  Royale.  Amiel,  Mr.  Dick,  Dr.  Brooks,  officers  of  the  Poor  Richard, 
Captain  Cazneau,  Captain  Young,  Mr.  Ingraham,  Mr.  Blodgett,  Mr. 
Glover,  Mr.  Conant,  Messrs.  Moyland,  Mease,  Nesbit,  Cummings,  and 
Mr.  Taylor  made  the  company  with  Captain  Landais,  myself  and  my 
son. 

"  An  elegant  dinner  we  had,  and  very  agreeable  and  instructive  con- 
versation; but  we  practiced  the  old  American  custom  of  drinking  to 
each  other,  which  I  confess  is  always  agreeable  to  me.  Some  hints 
about  language  and  glances  about  women  produced  this  observation; — 
that  there  were  two  ways  of  learning  French,  commonly  recommended; 
take  a  mistress,  and  go  to  the  Comedy.  Dr.  Brooks  in  his  good  humor 
'Pray  sir,  which  in  your  opinion  is  the  best?'  Answer  in  as  good 
humor  'Perhaps  both  would  teach  it  somewhat  sooner  than  either.' 
But  continued  I,  assuming  my  gravity,  'The  language  is  no  where  better 
spoken  than  at  the  Comedie.  The  pulpit,  the  bar,  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  and  the  Faculty  of  Medicine;  none  of  them  speak  as  accu- 
rately as  the  French  Comedie.' " 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  427 

bear  this  last  indignity.  The  tact,  and  the  wise  and 
conciliatory  methods  of  dealing  with  complicated  and 
trying  conditions,  which  he  had  already  displayed  in 
his  gentleman-like  treatment  of  his  subordinates  in  the 
first  short  cruise  of  his  squadron,  were  now  exhibited 
in  his  efforts  to  establish  harmonious  relations  with  the 
associate  commanders.  He  endeavored  in  repeated 
consultations  to  replace  authority  by  personal  ascen- 
dency, and  to  assure  as  large  a  measure  of  concerted 
action  as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances.  For 
this  purpose  he  issued  orders  to  the  respective  captains, 
requesting  strict  regard  to  signals,  and  giving  into  the 
hands  of  each  sealed  letters  of  rendezvous  in  case  of 
separation  from  the  flag-ship.  Two  privateers  offered 
to  join  the  squadron  as  volunteers,  swelling  the  num- 
ber of  his  ships  to  seven,  and  he  now  prepared  to  sail. 
On  the  11th  of  August  he  wrote  to  Sartine,  ex- 
plaining that  the  unguarded  English  prisoners  had 
caused  the  troubles  on  his  ship,  and  reminding  him 
that  the  minister's  withdrawal  of  the  marines  at  the 
last  moment  of  sailing  had  been  responsible  for  their 
insubordination.  He  wrote  that,  with  the  presence  of 
the  soldiers  which  Sartine  had  now  placed  upon  his 
ship,  he  expected  to  be  able  to  control  them,  and 
promised  to  send  him  direct  accounts  of  the  coming 
expedition.  Two  days  later,  on  the  eve  of  his  de- 
parture, in  a  happy  mood  of  expectation,  he  sent  a 
farewell  letter  to  Franklin  saying  that  "the  little 
squadron  appeared  to  be  unanimous,  and  that  he  be- 
lieved if  that  good  understanding  should  continue,  that 
they  would  be  able  to  perform  essential  services."    "I 


428  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

shall  certainly  sail  at  daybreak,"  he  continued,  "and 
I  hope  shortly  to  find  opportunity  to  testify  my  grati- 
tude to  our  great  and  good  ally,  for  the  honor  he  has 
conferred  upon  the  American  flag  and  on  myself,  and 
I  look  forward  with  flattering  expectation  and  an 
ardent  desire  to  merit  your  friendship  and  that  of 
America."  Another  letter,  brimful  of  affection  and  the 
expression  of  his  eager  desire  sometime  to  make  the 
joint  expedition  in  his  company,  he  sent  to  his  friend 
Lafayette,  thanking  him  for  the  presence  and  assist- 
ance of  Messrs.  Weibert  and  Chamillard,  and  assuring 
him  of  his  happiness  in  being  ranked  among  the  number 
of  his  friends.  A  still  more  intimate  expression  of  his 
feelings  at  the  moment  of  departure  is  found  in  a  letter 
belonging  to  this  period,  which  he  wrote  to  a  woman, 
Madame  de  Chaumont,  a  letter  hitherto  unpublished, 
which  furnishes  a  striking  example  of  the  power  of  his 
extraordinary  personality  and  the  delicate  gallantry  of 
his  attitude  toward  one  who  had  impulsively  confessed 
that  she  had  felt  his  charm. 

On  Board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
L'Orient,  June  13th. 

Although  my  pen  has  hitherto  been  silent,  yet  my 
thoughts  have  done  ample  justice  to  the  affectionate 
friendship  of  Madame  de  Chaumont.  Since  I  last  had 
the  honor  of  seeing  her,  I  have  indeed  had  very  little 
time  to  write,  yet  had  I  been  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  her  language  she  would  have  heard  from  me 
frequently. 

As  I  have  been  so  long  under  involuntary  silence,  you 
have  a  just  right  to  expect  me  to  say  something  that 
can  make  atonement  in  this  letter,  and  I  ardently  wish 


WAITING  FOR  A  COMMAND  429 

not  to  disappoint  you.    I  feel  however,  that  I  never 
had  more  to  say,  nor  less  power  to  express  myself. 

I  am  on  the  point  again  of  proving  the  uncertain 
fortunes  of  war.  If  I  survive,  I  hope  to  return  with 
laurels.  I  hope  this,  I  say,  because  I  am  sure  to  take 
with  me  your  good  wishes,  and  because  I  know  that 
my  success  would  afford  you  pleasure. 

To  support  the  cause  of  human  nature,  I  sacrifice  all 
the  soft  emotions  of  the  heart,  at  a  time  too  when  love 
is  my  duty.  But  my  soul's  supreme  ambition  is  to 
merit  the  partial  praises  of  my  friends  which  I  have  not 
yet  done  by  my  services.  I  can  only  add,  that  what- 
ever my  future  fortune  may  be,  I  shall  carry  with  me 
through  life,  the  most  constant  and  lively  sense  of 
your  polite  attentions,  and  of  your  delicate  and  unre- 
served friendship. 

I  am,  with  sentiments  of  real  esteem,  affection  and 
respect, 

Madame, 

Yours. 

The  exact  relation  which  existed  between  Jones  and 
his  fair  correspondent,  who  is  said  to  have  possessed 
unusual  wit  and  attractiveness,  must  be  left  to  con- 
jecture. But  a  knowledge  of  her  ardent  admiration  of 
the  young  American  officer  might  easily  have  been 
one  reason  why  M.  de  Chaumont  sent  Jones  forth  in 
the  anomalous  position  of  a  commander-in-chief 
of  a  squadron  without  the  slightest  power  to  com- 
mand. 

The  hour  had  now  come  for  him  to  depart,  and  with 
a  courage  undaunted  by  the  dangers  of  his  situation, 
with  a  rotten  ship,  a  makeshift  armament,  and  a  mot- 
ley crew,  he  set  sail  on  August  the  14th  on  that  cruise 


430  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

which  was  destined  to  be  his  ultimate  and  crowning 
adventure,  the  opportunity  to  fulfil  his  soul's  supreme 
ambition,  and  to  "write  his  name  with  honor  in  the 
page  of  history." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  "BON  HOMME  RICHARD" 
AND  THE  "SERAPIS" 

Although  Jones  had  received  orders  to  sail  to  the  north 
of  Scotland  to  attack  the  enemy's  commerce  off  the 
Orcades  and  the  Dogger  Bank,  he  had  represented  to 
Franklin  that  these  definite  directions  might  prevent 
his  taking  advantage  of  more  favorable  opportunities, 
which  he  hoped  might  fall  in  his  way,  and  hinder  the 
execution  of  other  and  far  more  extensive  plans  of  his 
own  which  he  had  already  projected.  Franklin  had 
yielded  to  his  arguments,  and,  following  the  wise  course 
which  the  American  Government  had  pursued  from  the 
first  in  regard  to  their  most  successful  and  favorite 
naval  officer,  gave  him  carte-blanche. 

In  the  conception  and  perfection  of  his  plans  for  the 
cruise  Paul  Jones  was  therefore  unhampered  by  his 
own  government,  but  the  unequalled  and  most  un- 
fortunate terms  of  the  "concordat"  which  Sartine 
had  permitted  M.  de  Chaumont  to  impose  upon  him 
developed  without  delay  a  series  of  difficulties  which 
would  have  utterly  discouraged  a  less  determined  com- 
mander. That  inflexible  quality  in  his  character  which 
had  at  last  procured  him  his  command  after  a  year  of 
disappointments  and  delays  was  now  about  to  be  sub- 
jected to  tests  which  ultimately  revealed  its  wellnigh 

431 


432  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

superhuman  endurance.  But  he  was  free  at  last  from 
the  surveillance  of  M.  de  Chaumont,  and,  once  more 
at  sea,  he  viewed  his  squadron  with  determined  opti- 
mism. The  addition  of  the  two  privateers  had  swelled 
its  numbers  to  seven  sail,  "A  force,"  he  writes,  "which 
might  have  affected  great  services  and  done  infinite  in- 
jury to  the  enemy,  had  there  been  due  secrecy  or  subor- 
dination. Unfortunately  there  was  neither.  Captain 
Jones  saw  his  danger,  but  his  reputation  being  at 
stake  he  put  all  to  the  hazard." 

Sailing  at  daybreak  on  the  14th,  they  arrived  after 
four  uneventful  days  off  the  entrance  to  the  English 
Channel,  where  they  recaptured  the  Verwagting,  a  large 
ship  from  Holland  which  had  been  taken  a  few  days 
before  by  an  English  privateer,  and  here  at  once  the 
folly  of  M.  de  Chaumont's  "concordat"  bore  its 
legitimate  results.  The  privateers  Monsieur  and  Grand- 
ville  had  desired  to  sign  the  document,  and  to  join 
the  squadron  on  equal  terms  with  the  other  vessels,  but 
M.  de  Chaumont  refused  their  request.  "This  arro- 
gant conduct,"  wrote  Jones,  "caused  general  belief 
among  the  Americans,  particularly  on  board  of  the 
Alliance,  that  the  squadron  belonged  neither  to  the 
King  or  to  Congress,  but  to  the  individuals  who  had 
supplied  the  armament  of  the  vessels,  and  who  were 
partners  with  M.  de  Chaumont  in  the  expected  profits 
of  the  expedition." 

The  privateers  therefore  associated  themselves  with 
the  others  by  voluntary  agreement  only,  and  broke 
their  engagements  to  abide  by  Jones's  orders  at  the 
very  first  opportunity  of  securing  a  prize.    The  captain 


*  »*  •  •    •  • 

•  »*,»»     •  • 

I »     •      »    »       t 


PQATES  ENG.  CO.,  N^V. 


Cruise  of  the  "Bon  Homme  Richard.' 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  433 

of  the  Monsieur,  which  was  the  boarding  vessel,  plun- 
dered the  Verwagting  during  the  night,  and  attempted 
to  obtain  the  prize  for  himself,  without  reference  to  his 
commander-in-chief,  by  despatching  it  to  Ostend  under 
orders  written  in  his  own  name  and  with  a  crew  from 
his  own  vessel.  Jones  superseded  these  orders,  and 
manning  the  prize  with  some  of  his  own  men  sent  her 
off  to  L'Orient  with  a  letter  to  M.  de  Chaumont.  The 
offended  captain  of  the  Monsieur  hung  about  in  the 
rear  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  then  disappeared  under 
cover  of  night  and  did  not  rejoin  the  squadron.  On 
the  23d,  having  taken  several  well-laden  merchantmen 
from  Ireland,  they  sighted  Cape  Clear,  at  the  extreme 
southern  point  of  the  Irish  coast,  where  they  came  up 
with  another  prize.  At  this  time  Jones  was  confronted 
with  further  difficulty  due  to  his  lack  of  authority  over 
his  squadron,  and  was  given  another  example  of  what 
he  might  expect  from  the  strange  captain  of  the  Alli- 
ance. "  That  afternoon  being  calm,"  wrote  Jones  in  his 
official  record,  "I  sent  some  armed  boats  to  take  a 
brigantine  that  appeared  in  the  new  quarter.  Soon 
after,  in  the  evening,  it  became  necessary  to  have  a 
boat  ahead  of  the  ship  to  tow,  as  the  helm  could  not 
prevent  her  from  laying  across  the  tide  of  flood,  which 
would  have  driven  us  into  a  deep  and  dangerous  bay 
situated  between  the  rocks  on  the  south  called  the 
Shallocks,  and  on  the  north  called  the  Blaskets.  The 
ship's  boat  being  absent  I  sent  my  own  barge  ahead 
to  tow  the  ship.  The  boats  took  the  brigantine  (she 
was  called  the  Fortune)  which  was  bound  with  a  cargo 
of  oil  blubber  and  staves  from  New  Foundland  for 


434  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

Bristol.  This  vessel  I  ordered  to  proceed  immediately 
for  Nantes  or  St.  Malo.  Soon  after  sunset  the  vil- 
lains who  towed  the  ship  cut  the  rope  and  decamped 
with  my  barge.  Sundry  shots  were  fired  to  bring  them 
to,  without  effect.  In  the  meantime  the  Master  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  without  orders,  manned  one  of 
the  ship's  boats,  and  with  four  soldiers  pursued  the 
barge  in  order  to  stop  the  deserters.  The  evening  was 
clear  and  serene,  but  the  zeal  of  that  officer,  Mr.  Cut- 
ting Lunt,  induced  him  to  pursue  too  far,  and  a  fog 
which  came  soon  afterward  prevented  the  boats  from 
rejoining  the  ship,  although  I  caused  signal  guns  to  be 
frequently  fired.  The  fog  and  calm  continued  the  next 
day  till  towards  evening.  In  the  afternoon  Captain 
Landais  came  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and 
behaved  towards  me  with  great  disrespect,  affirming  in 
the  most  indelicate  manner  and  language  that  I  had 
lost  my  boat  and  people  through  my  imprudence  in 
sending  boats  to  take  a  prize.  He  persisted  in  his  re- 
proaches though  he  was  assured  by  Messrs.  de  Weibert 
and  Chamillard  that  the  barge  was  towing  the  ship  at 
the  time  of  the  elopement,  and  that  she  had  not  been 
sent  in  pursuit  of  the  prize.  He  was  affronted  because 
I  would  not,  on  the  day  before,  suffer  him  to  chase 
without  my  orders,  and  to  approach  the  dangerous 
shore  I  have  already  mentioned,  where  he  was  an  en- 
tire stranger,  and  where  there  was  not  sufficient  wind 
to  govern  a  ship.  He  told  me  he  was  the  only  Ameri- 
can in  the  Squadron  and  was  determined  to  follow  his 
own  opinion  in  chasing,  when  and  where  he  thought 
proper,  and  in  every  other  matter  that  concerned  the 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  435 

service,  and  that  if  we  continued  in  that  situation  three 
days  longer  the  squadron  would  be  taken." 

The  manner  in  which  Jones  met  this  violent  attack 
upon  his  judgment  and  authority  is  related  in  Colonel 
Weibert's  account1  of  the  occurrence,  wherein  he  ex- 
presses a  very  clear  opinion  of  Landais's  entirely  un- 
manageable character,  and  testifies  to  Jones's  concilia- 
tory attitude  and  admirable  self-control. 

Among  the  many  dangers  which  gathered  like  mock- 
ing fates  about  his  devoted  head  none  bore  so  fantastic 

*"  Comme  depuis  le  Compagne  de  1779  il  y  a  eu  des  rapports 
varies  et  sourdement  repandus  contre  le  caractere  prive  ou  social 
du  Commodore  Paul  Jones,  commandant  cy  devant  l'Escadre  du  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  et  comme  entre  autres  ouidires  ou  propos  mal  fondees, 
il  m'est  parfois  parvenu  quec  et  officier  avait  donne  un  dementi  formel 
au  Sr.  Landais  cy  devant  Capitaine  de  Y Alliance  relativement  a  la 
perte  du  canot  en  vue  de  la  Cote  d'Irlande.  C'est  porquoi  je  declare 
et  affirme  que  le  Commodore  Susdit,  n'a  jamais  dit  au  dit  Sr.  Lan- 
dais 'You  lie'  (vous  mentez)  mais  bien  les  seuls  et  propres  termes, 
'it  is  an  untruth'  quil  a  plu  au  Sr.  Landais  d'interpreter  en  un  de- 
menti formel  n'ayant  jamais  pu  vaincre  son  humeur  facheuse,  opiniatre, 
turbulante  et  insubordonee  qu'il  na  cesse  de  montrer  pendant  toute  la 
Campagne  dessus.  Je  certifie  en  outre  que  le  Commodore  Paul  Jones 
bien  loin  de  commander  avec  hauteur  et  brutalite,  comme  il  a  plu  a 
certains  de  la  faire  croire,  qu'il  a  toujours  6te  quoique  tres  strict  et  vif 
dans  son  service,  doux,  honnete,  et  tres  indulgent  non  seulement  vis  a 
vis  de  ses  officiers,  mais  encore  envers  le  matelot  et  soldat,  qu'il  a  tou- 
jours traite  avec  humanity.  Comme  j'ai  etc"  temoin  present  de  la 
querelle  cy  dessus,  je  dois  avouer  en  conscience,  que  le  Sr.  Landais 
y  a  donne  beaucuop  Lieu  par  son  ton  arrogant,  dont  il  s'en  servit  vis 
a  vis  de  son  commandant,  au  paisible  bonnes  et  honnetes  raisons  du 
quel  il  n'a  jamais  voulu  se  rendre;  bien  au  contraire,  par  ce  que,  le  Sr. 
Landais  a  repondu  au  Commodore,  moi  et  le  Lieut.  Col.  Chamillard 
tous  les  deux  present  dans  les  termes  les  plus  grossiers  les  plus  insul- 
tants,  d'abord  en  Anglais  quil  rendait  au  plutot  en  Francais,  a  fin  que 
le  Sr.  Chamillard  n'igorait  de  rien.  Toute  la  querelle  cy  dessus  s'est 
passe"  dans  la  chambre  de  Poupe  du  Bon  Homme  Richard,  le  23,  au  29, 
Aout,  de  L'annee  cy  dessus.  Je  conclue  par  dire,  que  le  Sr.  Landais 
accompagnait  ou  affirmait  ses  propos  offensants  et  tres  scandaleux  par 
les  gestes,  les  plus  provoquant.  Philadelphia,  le  28  Novembre  1781." 
— Lt.  Colonel  Weibert. 


436  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

a  shape  as  Landais.  Accepted  by  the  careless  home 
government  without  a  question  as  to  his  antecedents, 
this  cashiered  French  officer  was  yet  to  run  a  long  and 
dangerous  course  before  his  eccentricities  developed 
into  the  madness  which  properly  explained  his  char- 
acter. 

At  this  moment,  when  his  presence  in  Jones's 
strangely  organized  squadron  boded  the  most  serious 
trouble,  no  one  suspected  that  he  was  more  than  in- 
sulting and  insubordinate.  Fortunate,  indeed,  if  Jones 
and  his  French  officers  had  realized  the  truth  and  then 
and  there  removed  him  from  his  command  and  placed 
him  in  confinement. 

Unwilling  to  abandon  his  officers  and  boat,  Jones 
now,  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  Captain  Cot- 
tineau,  of  the  Pallas,  prevailed  with  the  commander 
of  the  Cerf  to  go  in  search  of  them.  From  a  later 
extract  from  Jones's  journal,  it  appears  that  "Mr. 
Lunt  perceived  the  Cerf  on  the  day  she  was  sent  to 
reconnoitre  and  gladly  approached  her.  The  Cerf 
however  mounted  English  Colors  and  fired  upon  the 
boat,  when  Mr.  Lunt  hastily  retreated  to  the  shore 
where  he  was  captured  and  recommitted  to  the  con- 
finement of  an  English  jail  from  which  he  had  so  lately 
been  delivered,  and  where  after  some  months  he  suc- 
combed  to  his  sufferings."1 

After  the  departure  of  the  Cerf,  Jones  hung  around 
the  coast  in  the  greatest  anxiety  for  several  days, 

xThis  extract  is  printed  in  Sands  compilation;  it  is  not  found  in 
Jones's  journal  to  Louis  XVI,  and  must  belong  to  a  draft  of  the  same 
journal  which  was  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Taylor,  and  which  is  no  longer 
in  existence. 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  437 

awaiting  her  return  with  the  barge,  but  the  cutter  aban- 
doned the  squadron  and  returned  to  France.  This  was 
a  serious  loss,  for  she  was  the  only  properly  armed 
ship  of  his  force.  The  loss  of  his  third  lieutenant  with 
twenty  of  his  test  Americans  was  even  more  unfort- 
unate, and  his  discouragement  was  further  increased 
by  the  disappearance  of  the  second  privateer,  the 
Grandville,  which,  having  secured  a  prize,  decamped 
with  it  during  the  night. 

The  squadron  was  now  reduced  to  four  ships,  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  the  Alliance,  the  Pallas,  and  the 
Vengeance;  but  Jones  determined  to  lose  no  more  time 
in  attempting  to  perform  some  important  service,  and 
decided  to  steer  his  course  around  the  north  coast  of 
Ireland,  with  the  intention  of  intercepting  a  fleet  of 
eight  East  Indiamen  which  he  learned  were  on  their 
way  to  London,  but  Landais,  again  insubordinate,  re- 
fused to  assist  him,  and  under  cover  of  night  separated 
from  the  squadron. 

Jones  was  now  forced  to  abandon  his  plan,  but  steered 
his  course  around  Ireland,  taking  various  prizes  on  the 
way,  when  a  few  days  later — on  the  31st — Landais  again 
put  in  an  appearance,  bringing  the  Betsey,  a  valuable 
West  Indian,  at  the  moment  when  Jones  was  in  the 
act  of  chasing  another  ship,  the  Union,  laden  with  ship 
supplies.  By  the  1st  of  September  he  had  sailed 
around  the  northerly  end  of  Scotland  outside  the  Ork- 
ney Islands  and  into  the  North  Sea.  He  had  taken 
many  prizes,  but  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  make  an 
important  attack  upon  the  enemy's  territory.  He  there- 
fore requested  the  officers  of  his  remaining  vessels  to 


438  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

come  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  to  concert 
future  operations.  Landais  insolently  refused,  inform- 
ing Mr.  Mease,  Jones's  purser,  who  had  visited  the 
Alliance  in  the  hope  of  bringing  him  to  reason,  that  he 
had  the  lowest  opinion  of  the  commander  and  would 
meet  him  on  shore,  "where  they  must  kill  one  or  the 
other."  Unwilling  to  give  up  the  hope  of  gaining  his 
co-operation,  Jones  now  requested  Mr.  Mease  to  take 
Captain  Cottineau  and  Colonel  Chamillard  on  board 
the  Alliance ,  believing  that  the  persuasions  of  his  coun- 
trymen might  prevail  with  Landais.  More  than  an 
hour  was  wasted  in  fruitless  argument,  Landais  utterly 
refusing  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  his  fellow-officers  and 
continuing  his  insulting  remarks  in  regard  to  the 
commodore. 

At  this  juncture,  as  if  to  add  to  Jones's  manifold 
difficulties,  a  heavy  gale  arose  which  continued  from 
the  5th  until  the  13th  of  the  month,  during  which 
time  Landais  again  gave  them  the  slip  and  went  off  to 
follow  his  own  devices.  The  squadron  had  been  work- 
ing to  the  southward  and  arrived  off  the  eastern  en- 
trance of  the  Firth  of  Forth.  And  now,  although  em- 
barrassed with  the  large  number  of  prisoners  from  his 
various  prizes,  Jones  decided  to  attempt  the  execution 
of  his  favorite  plan  of  laying  Leith  and  Edinburgh  under 
contribution,  having  heard  from  the  captain  of  one  of 
their  prizes  that  the  naval  force  in  the  harbor  of  Leith 
consisted  of  but  one  twenty-gun  ship  of  war  with  three 
or  four  cutters,  and  knowing  that  the  town  itself  was 
unprovided  with  batteries.  He  was  again  in  familiar 
waters  and  hoped  to  accomplish  his  object   before 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  439 

the  alarm  of  his  presence  had  spread  about  the  coast. 
"His  purpose/'  he  wrote,  "was  to  teach  the  enemy 
humanity  by  some  exemplary  stroke  of  retaliation,"  to 
relieve  the  Americans  still  in  captivity  in  England,  as 
well  as  to  make  a  diversion  in  the  north  in  favor  of 
a  formidable  descent  which  he  then  expected  would 
have  been  made  in  the  south  side  of  Great  Britain 
under  cover  of  the  great  combined  fleets  of  France  and 
Spain. 

This  formidable  descent,  which  Jones  hoped  to  favor 
by  making  his  attack  upon  the  north,  was  none  other 
than  the  grand  invasion  planned  by  the  French  court 
and  intrusted  to  Lafayette.  The  great  fleet  under 
D'Orvilliers,  the  hope  of  France  and  the  visible  result 
of  years  of  determined  effort  to  restore  its  naval  power, 
had  already  been  beaten  back  by  contrary  winds  when 
in  sight  of  the  English  coast  and,  in  company  with 
the  Spanish  ships,  had  anchored  at  Brest  on  the  same 
day  on  which  Paul  Jones  appeared  before  the  town  of 
Leith.  Exposed  to  the  most  unheard-of  privations, 
half  starved  and  decimated  by  disease,  this  great  naval 
force  had  become  utterly  disorganized  and  useless  in 
spite  of  its  well-built  ships,  owing  to  the  criminal  care- 
lessness or  ignorance  of  M.  de  Sartine  in  its  manner  of 
equipment.  The  joint  expedition  originally  planned 
for  Jones  and  Lafayette,  with  less  pretence,  would 
unquestionably  have  escaped  this  disgraceful  failure, 
and  might  in  all  probability  have  succeeded  in  doing 
some  effectual  service. 

Having  taken  a  small  collier  off  the  coast  of  Scotland, 
and  promising  the  captain  to  restore  his  ship  as  the 


440  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

price  of  being  piloted  up  the  Firth  of  Forth,  Jones 
now  summoned  the  captains  of  the  Pallas  and  the  Ven- 
geance and  urged  their  co-operation  in  his  attack  upon 
Leith.  He  assured  them  that  the  town  was  defence- 
less, and  that  the  two  hundred  pounds  ransom  which  he 
intended  to  demand  might  be  gained  without  the  small- 
est danger,  and,  although  he  finally  obtained  their  con- 
sent, he  spent  the  whole  night  in  persuasion,  and  so 
much  time  was  spent  in  "pointed  remarks  and  sage 
deliberations"  that  they  lost  the  favorable  wind,  which 
became  contrary  in  the  morning.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, abandon  his  design,  but  continued  working  to 
windward  up  the  Firth.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  17th 
the  squadron  was  plainly  seen  from  Edinburgh  castle, 
and  it  was  high  time  to  make  the  attack. 

The  memory  of  Jones's  last  visit  to  the  coast  of  Scot- 
land was  by  no  means  forgotten  by  the  inhabitants, 
and  the  rumor  of  his  dreaded  presence  now  spread 
rapidly  through  the  country,  causing  the  wildest  alarm. 
Arms  were  distributed  among  the  trades  and  an  effect- 
ual effort  was  made  to  erect  batteries  at  Leith.  Every 
preparation  had  been  made  for  the  descent,  and  ar- 
ticles of  capitulation  had  been  drawn  up  by  Jones  to 
be  signed  by  the  magistrates  of  Leith,  when  suddenly 
the  adverse  wind  which  had  so  often  foiled  his  attacks 
upon  his  native  land  rose  to  such  violence  that  he  was 
obliged  to  bear  away  and  run  out  of  the  Firth.  One 
of  his  prizes  foundered  in  the  heavy  sea  which  rose 
after  the  gale. 

The  country  had  now  been  thoroughly  aroused,  and 
knowing  that  Edinburgh,  which  was  only  a  mile  from 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  441 

Leith,  would  surely  send  a  body  of  troops  for  its  pro- 
tection, Jones  realized  that  his  last  hope  of  surprising 
the  town  was  gone.  The  plan  was  similar  in  intent  to 
his  attack  upon  Whitehaven,  and  had  he  been  able  to 
attempt  it  on  the  preceding  evening  while  the  wind  was 
still  favorable,  he  would  have  unquestionably  suc- 
ceeded; but  the  happy  moment  had  passed,  and  he 
therefore  with  many  regrets  abandoned  the  cherished 
and  long-contemplated  project.  He  had  still  another 
project  which  he  believed  could  be  successfully  accom- 
plished, but  as  it  offered  no  material  reward  and  his 
associate  captains  had  now  become  thoroughly  alarmed 
at  the  idea  of  remaining  long  in  sight  of  the  enemy's 
territory,  they  absolutely  refused  to  support  him.  "  The 
enemy,  Mr.  Cottineau  said,  would  send  against  us 
a  superior  force,  and  declared  that  if  I  obstinately  con- 
tinued two  days  longer  we  would  surely  be  taken." 
Owing  to  the  indiscretion  of  M.  de  Chaumont,  the 
duration  and  port  of  return  for  the  cruise  had  been  dis- 
closed to  Jones's  associates,  and  they  declared  their  in- 
tention of  steering  without  delay  for  the  Texel.  The 
captain  of  the  Vengeance  announced  that  he  and  Cot- 
tineau would  depart  alone  if  Jones  refused  to  join  them. 
In  this  predicament  he  still  considered  the  feasibility 
of  carrying  out  his  plan  with  his  single  ship.  "Noth- 
ing prevented  me,"  he  said,  "from  pursuing  my  de- 
sign, but  the  reproach  which  would  have  been  cast  upon 
my  character  as  a  man  of  prudence  had  the  enterprise 
miscarried." 

The  conclusion  which  arises  from  the  explanation  of 
his  conduct  on  this  occasion  is  inevitable.    The  per- 


442  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

sonal  renown  of  any  officer  should  unquestionably  be 
subordinated  to  his  desire  to  serve  his  country.  In 
many  instances  Paul  Jones  had  shown  his  willingness 
to  sink  his  personal  aims  in  the  service  of  the  common 
cause.  But  in  the  unprecedented  situation  in  which 
he  was  now  involved,  shorn  of  every  shadow  of  au- 
thority over  his  reluctant  and  insubordinate  asso- 
ciates, he  was  betrayed  into  an  exhibition  of  most 
unusual  hesitation,  between  his  devotion  to  the  coun- 
try of  his  adoption  and  his  regard  for  his  reputation 
which  was  then  and  always  the  leading  motive  of 
his  life. 

It  was  now  late  in  September,  and  the  time  allotted 
for  the  cruise  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close.  Deserted 
by  most  of  his  vessels  and  unsupported  by  his  col- 
leagues, Jones  now  steered  for  the  last  rendezvous  of 
his  squadron  off  Flamborough  Head,  hoping  to  find 
there  the  Alliance  and  the  Cerf.  The  region  around 
this  triangular  headland,  which  projects  far  out  from 
the  east  coast  of  England,  was  chosen  by  Jones  as  an 
excellent  cruising-ground,  for  the  reason  that  the  coast- 
wise vessels,  forced  out  of  their  direct  course,  tend  to 
pass  very  close  to  the  land  in  a  favorable  position  for 
attack.  To  the  north  of  the  head  is  the  port  of  Scar- 
borough, directly  southwest  is  Bridlington  Bay,  and 
thirty  miles  farther  south  another  headland,  the  Spurn, 
juts  out  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Humber.  Off  these 
several  harbors  Jones  knew  that  he  must  meet  with 
numerous  colliers  and  merchantmen,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  shortness  of  the  time  which  still  remained,  hoped 
against  hope  that  he  might  still  fall  in  with  the  ex- 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  443 

pected  Baltic  fleet,  the  favorite  object  of  Franklin's 
plans,  which  he  had  been  ordered  to  intercept  at  any 
and  every  favorable  opportunity. 

Sailing  down  along-shore,  on  the  19th  and  20th,  he 
took  two  sloops  and  a  brigantine,  sinking  both  sloops, 
and  on  the  21st,  having  arrived  off  Flamborough  Head, 
the  Pallas  chased  one  sail  toward  the  northeast,  while 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  followed  by  the  Vengeance, 
sailed  around  the  point  in  pursuit  of  another  which  ap- 
peared toward  the  south.  "The  one  I  chased,"  said 
Jones,  "a  brigantine  collier,  belonged  to  Scarborough 
and  was  soon  taken  and  sunk  immediately,  as  a  fleet 
then  appeared  to  the  southward.  It  was  so  late  in  the 
day  that  I  could  not  come  up  with  the  fleet  before 
night.  At  length,  however,  I  got  so  near  one  as  to 
force  her  to  run  ashore  between  Flamborough  Head 
and  the  Spurn.  Soon  after  I  took  another  brigantine 
from  Holland,  belonging  to  Sunderland,  and  at  day- 
light the  next  morning,  seeing  another  fleet  steering 
towards  me  from  the  Spurn,  I  imagined  them  to  be 
a  convoy  which  had  been  for  some  time  expected. 
One  of  them  had  a  pendant  hoisted  and  appeared  to 
be  a  ship  of  force.  They  had  not  however  courage  to 
come  on,  but  put  back  (into  the  Humber)  all  but  the 
one  which  seemed  to  be  armed,  and  that  one  also  kept 
to  windward  very  near  the  land,  and  on  the  edge  of 
some  dangerous  shoals  where  I  could  not  with  safety 
approach."  Jones  now  signalled  for  a  pilot,  and  two 
came  off,  one  of  whom,  mistaking  him  for  an  English- 
man, furnished  him  with  the  private  British  signal 
which  the  fleet  had  been  ordered  to  obey.    Immedi- 


444  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ately  flying  this  signal,  Jones  now  tried  to  decoy  the 
merchantmen  out  of  the  harbor,  whither  they  had  re- 
treated, but  failed  in  his  attempt.  He  then  decided 
it  to  be  imprudent  to  remain  longer  near  this  danger- 
ous harbor,  and  steered  north  again  toward  Flam- 
borough  Head  to  rejoin  the  Pallas. 

On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the  23d,  the  weather 
being  calm  and  clear,  Jones  continued  the  business  of 
overhauling  the  merchant-ships  which  appeared  from 
every  direction  in  those  teeming  waters.  The  brig 
from  Holland  was  not  then  in  sight,  so  he  turned  south- 
west to  chase  a  brigantine  which  appeared  to  wind- 
ward. He  had  pursued  her  very  near  to  the  land, 
when  about  noon  he  perceived  a  much  larger  ship 
which  appeared  to  the  north  off  Flamborough  Head. 
He  now  armed  one  of  the  pilot-boats  under  Henry 
Lunt,  his  second  lieutenant,  whom  he  sent  off  with  a 
party  of  fifteen  to  take  the  brigantine,  which  had  come 
to  anchor  in  Bridlington  Bay,  and  turning  northeast 
himself,  he  went  off  in  chase  of  the  larger  ship.  Soon 
after,  at  about  one  o'clock,  he  saw  a  fleet  of  forty-one 
sail  bearing  N.N.E.  around  the  projecting  headland,  and 
at  once  made  out  that  it  was  the  Baltic  fleet  which  he 
had  been  so  anxiously  awaiting.  He  instantly  called 
back  the  pilot-boat  and  made  signal  for  a  general  chase. 
The  fleet  was  preceded  by  two  large  ships  of  war,  the 
Serapis,  Captain  Pearson,  and  the  Countess  of  Scar- 
borough. The  captain  of  the  Serapis  had  come  at 
daybreak  close  in  with  Scarborough,  where  he  was  in- 
formed of  the  presence  of  a  hostile  squadron  which  had 
been  seen  standing  southward  on  the  previous  day. 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  445 

He  therefore  signalled  the  fleet  to  continue  its  course 
out  to  sea  and  to  leeward  while  he  made  all  sail  to  wind- 
ward to  get  between  it  and  the  ships  of  the  enemy. 
The  convoy  disregarded  his  signals  and  crowded  all 
sail  to  round  Flamborough  Head  and  escape,  but 
when,  about  noon,  they  caught  sight  of  Jones's  squad- 
ron, they  suddenly  tacked,  let  fly  their  topgallant 
sheets,  firing  guns  in  token  of  distress,  and  fled  like  a 
flock  of  frightened  birds  straight  for  the  port  of  Scar- 
borough. As  soon  as  Jones  caught  sight  of  the  fleet 
he  signalled  for  his  three  ships  to  form  in  line  of  battle 
to  engage.  The  Pallas  and  the  Vengeance  obeyed,  the 
Pallas  taking  a  position  to  leeward  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richardj  and  the  Vengeance  bringing  up  the  rear.  But 
Landais,  in  the  Alliance,  sailed  on  disregardfully  past 
the  Serapis,  near  the  shore  and  to  windward,  to  await 
events  in  safety. 

The  Serapis  and  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  were  now 
sailing  in  converging  lines  along  the  opposite  shores 
of  the  triangular  headland,  the  Serapis  heading  south- 
east, and  the  Richard  northeast  toward  a  point  at  sea 
about  two  leagues  from  the  shore.  At  one  o'clock,  as 
Pearson  related  in  his  admiralty  report,  "we  got  sight 
of  the  enemy's  ships  from  the  masthead,  and  about 
Four  we  made  them  plain  from  the  deck  to  be  three 
large  ships  and  a  brig,  upon  which  I  made  the  Countess 
of  Scarborough  a  signal  to  join  me,  she  being  in  shore 
with  the  convoy.  At  Five  the  Serapis  brought  to,  to 
await  the  Countess  of  Scarborough  which  joined  a  half 
an  hour  later.  At  Six  the  two  ships  went  about, 
steering  westward  in  order  to  keep  their  ground  better 


446  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

between  the  enemies'  ships  and  the  convoy."  Per- 
ceiving their  intention,  Jones  also  tacked,  turning 
sharply  at  six  points  of  the  compass,  so  that  he  gained 
in  turn  the  weather-gauge,  and  the  advantageous  posi- 
tion between  the  English  ships  and  the  shore.  Al- 
though sailing  almost  directly  before  the  wind,  which 
was  S.S.W.  from  the  land,  the  slow-sailing  Bon  Homme 
Richard  did  not  come  within  hail  until  seven  o'clock, 
when  she  came  to  by  the  side  of  the  Serapis.  The  Pal- 
las and  the  Vengeance  were  now  lying  some  distance 
to  leeward,  near  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  the 
Alliance,  out  of  gunshot  to  windward,  and  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  was  left  alone  with  the  Serapis.  She 
was  an  entirely  new  ship  of  war  and  on  her  first  com- 
mission; she  was  of  improved  and  modern  construction, 
manned  with  a  picked  crew  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  Englishmen,  and  commanded  by  a  captain  of 
well-known  courage  and  ability.  The  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  with  her  motley  and  ill-assorted  crew  and  her 
makeshift  armament,  was  a  worn-out  old  Indiaman, 
built  for  the  carrying  trade,  slow  sailing  and  unwieldy. 
Although  classed  as  a  forty-four-gun  ship  the  Serapis 
actually  mounted  fifty;  she  had  two  covered  decks, 
twenty  eighteen-pounders  being  placed  on  the  lower 
deck,  and  twenty  nine-pounders  on  the  main  deck, 
while  above  on  the  uncovered  spar  deck  there  were  ten 
six-pounders,  throwing  in  all  three  hundred  pounds. 
The  old-fashioned  Bon  Homme  Richard,  which  had  six 
eighteen-pounders  on  the  lower  gun-deck,  fourteen 
twelve  and  fourteen  nine-pounders  on  the  main  deck, 
with  eight  six-pounders  above,  was  no  match  for  this 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  447 

formidable  antagonist,  and  as  events  disclosed  after  the 
first  broadside,  had  only  the  main-deck  guns  with  three 
on  the  quarter-deck  with  which  to  engage  the  enemy. 
She  had  a  high  old-fashioned  poop,  on  which  Jones  had 
stationed  Colonel  Chamillard  and  a  body  of  French 
marines,  and  very  broad  tops,  fortunately  capable  of 
carrying  a  large  force  of  riflemen,  which  were  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Stack,  of  the  Irish  regiment. 
Her  company,  which  originally  amounted  to  three 
hundred  and  eighty  men,  was  reduced  to  not  more 
than  three  hundred  by  the  absence  of  the  various  men 
who  had  been  detached  to  man  the  several  prizes,  and 
by  the  loss  of  both  the  second  and  third  lieutenants, 
Henry  and  Cutting  Lunt,  with  their  respective  com- 
panies. The  latter,  with  two  detachments  of  men  who 
had  been  captured  off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  represented 
a  serious  loss,  which  was  further  augmented  by  the 
absence  of  Henry  Lunt  with  his  fifteen  good  men,  who 
failed  to  obey  Jones's  signal  to  return  to  the  ship  after 
the  battle  had  begun.  Thus  Jones,  at  the  moment  of 
engagement,  found  himself  most  unfortunately  deprived 
of  two  of  his  American  officers,  Richard  Dale,  his  first 
lieutenant  and  very  able  assistant,  only  remaining, 
together  with  a  few  inexperienced  subordinates  and 
petty  officers. 

Slowly,  on  that  calm  and  beautiful  autumn  evening, 
the  sunlight  faded  over  the  green  hills  of  England  and 
the  dim  curtains  of  the  lingering  twilight  hung  across  the 
sea.  The  transparent  shadows  of  those  northern  lati- 
tudes enveloped  the  approaching  vessels,  and  a  silence 
fell  upon  the  spectators  who,  at  news  of  the  imminent 


448  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

engagement,  had  assembled  in  numbers  under  the  walls 
of  the  Scarborough  fort  and  upon  the  heights  of  Flam- 
borough  Head.  The  two  vessels  were  now  pointing  on 
the  same  tack  in  a  northwesterly  direction  toward  the 
head,  the  Richard  slightly  in  advance  of  the  Serapis, 
on  the  latter's  port  bow.  (Position  1.)  Both  ships 
had  been  prepared  for  action,  with  decks  cleared  and 
courses  hauled  up,  awaiting  the  signal  to  begin.  At 
the  last  moment  a  deep  and  breathless  silence  settled 
down  upon  the  Richard.  The  Serapis  spoke  first: 
"What  ship  is  that?"  Hoping  to  drop  farther  toward 
the  stern  of  the  enemy  in  a  last  moment  of  delay, 
Jones  answered,  "I  can't  hear  what  you  say."  Again 
the  Serapis  hailed:  "Answer  immediately  or  I  shall  be 
under  the  necessity  of  firing  upon  you."  The  next 
instant  a  blaze  of  fire  burst  simultaneously  from  both 
the  ships,  announcing  to  the  listening  thousands  that 
the  battle  had  begun;  but  when  the  fire  from  the 
Serapis  sank  into  momentary  darkness,  another  scar- 
let shaft  lit  up  the  sea.  Disaster,  great  enough  to  de- 
cide the  fate  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  to  cause 
any  other  commander  at  that  moment  to  give  up  the 
battle,  wrecked  the  lower  gun-deck,  where  two  of  the 
old  eighteen-pounders,  exploding  at  the  first  fire,  killed 
nearly  every  man  at  that  station,  blowing  up  a  portion 
of  the  main  deck  above  and  rending  a  great  hole  in 
the  hull.  Instantly  Jones  recalled  the  few  survivors 
and  ordered  the  ports  to  be  closed. 

The  two  ships  were  now  abreast  and  the  Serapis, 
which  had  fired  the  first  broadside  with  her  quarter- 
and  main-deck  guns,  now  unmasked  a  lower  battery, 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  449 

disclosing  to  the  Richard  that  she  was  a  double-decker 
and  more  than  her  match. 

"The  battle  now  continued  with  unremitting  fury, 
and  every  method  was  practised  on  both  sides  to  gain 
an  advantage  and  to  rake  each  other,  and  I  must  con- 
fess that  the  enemy  several  times  gained  thereby  an 
advantageous  situation  in  spite  of  my  best  endeavor 
to  prevent  it,  as  I  had  to  deal  with  an  enemy  of  greatly 
superior  force.  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  closing  with 
him  to  prevent  the  advantage  he  had  over  me  in  point 
of  manoeuvre."  Thus  wrote  Paul  Jones  in  regard  to 
the  first  stages  of  the  conflict,  when  he,  as  well  as  every 
man  on  board  his  ship,  realized  that  they  were  dealing 
with  an  enemy  which  in  men  and  metal  was  over- 
whelmingly superior.  Again  and  again  Jones  tried  by 
backing  his  topsails  to  get  astern  of  the  Serapis,  but 
with  some  of  her  braces  shot  away  the  slow-sailing 
Richard  responded  feebly  to  her  helm,  and  in  spite  of 
every  effort  failed  to  execute  the  manoeuvre. 

The  first  evolutions  of  the  two  combatants  as  they 
feinted  like  gladiators  for  the  advantage  are  lacking 
in  Jones's  account,  and  are  likewise  omitted  by  Pearson 
in  his  report  to  the  Admiralty,  with  the  evident  in- 
tention of  minimizing  the  advantages  of  his  greater 
strength  and  speed.  But  Nathaniel  Fanning,  one  of 
Jones's  midshipmen  and  his  secretary,  has  supplied 
the  missing  details:  "The  wind  was  now  very  light, 
and  our  ship  not  under  proper  command,  and  the 
Serapis  outsailing  us  two  feet  to  one,  which  advantage 
the  enemy  discovered  and  improved,  by  keeping  under 
our  stern  and  raking  us  fore  and  aft." 


450  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

The  two  vessels  thus  successively  backing  their  top- 
sails to  get  astern  of  each  other,  the  Richard  failing 
and  the  Serapis  succeeding,  must  have  assumed  at  least 
twice  Position  3,  as  indicated  in  the  diagram. 

The  Serapis  now  tried  to  cross  ahead  of  the  Richard 
(Position  4),  pouring  a  slanting  fire  into  her  lee  quarter 
and  attempting  to  lay  her  athwart  hawse  (an  incident 
related  by  Dale  and  Fanning),  but  finding  that  he  had 
miscalculated  his  distance,  and  that  the  Richard  would 
be  aboard  of  him,  Pearson  put  his  helm  alee,  which 
brought  the  two  ships  in  a  line  ahead  (Position  5). 
The  Richard1  s  bow  now  running  into  the  stern  of  the 
Serapis,  Jones  seized  the  opportunity  of  closing  with 
the  enemy,  and  ordering  grappling-irons  to  be  thrown 
out,  took  command  of  a  boarding-party  to  rush  the 
English  ship,  but  was  repulsed,  seeing  with  infinite 
chagrin  his  grappling-irons  lose  their  hold  and  fall 
into  the  sea  (Position  6).  Pearson  now  again  (accord- 
ing to  his  narrative,  which  is  clear  and  detailed  from 
this  point),  "backed  his  top  sails  to  get  even  with  him 
again"  (Position  7). 

At  this  stage  of  the  battle,  after  nearly  an  hour  of 
broadsiding,  the  helpless  Richard  was  in  reality  a  beat- 
en ship.  Colonel  Chamillard,  seeing  nearly  every  one  of 
his  men  killed,  abandoned  his  station  at  the  poop  and 
retired  to  the  quarter-deck. 

The  entire  battery  of  twenty-eight  twelve  and  nine- 
pounders  on  the  main  deck,  manned  by  a  picked  com- 
pany of  Americans  and  marines  under  Dale  and  Wei- 
bert,  on  which  Jones  had  placed  his  chief  dependence, 
was  silenced.    The  hole  in  the  Richard's  side,  made  by 


A 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  451 

the  explosion  of  the  guns  on  the  lower  gun-deck,  had 
now  been  so  enlarged  by  the  incessant  fire  of  the  enemy's 
terrible  eighteen-pounders,  which  crashed  almost  with- 
out resistance  through  her  ancient  timbers,  that  an 
enormous  chasm  gaped  wide  between  the  main-mast 
and  the  stern,  with  only  a  few  stanchions  remaining  to 
keep  the  upper  decks  from  collapsing  into  the  hull. 
The  main  deck  thus  lay  open  to  the  wind  and  waves 
so  widely  that  a  coach-and-six  could  have  driven 
through  from  side  to  side.  The  shattered  hulk  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  with  the  slightest  rise  of  wind  or 
sea,  would  soon  have  plunged  beneath  the  waves.  At 
this  appalling  moment,  while  the  hull  of  the  helpless 
ship  was  being  literally  knocked  to  pieces  by  the  great 
guns  of  the  enemy's  lower  batteries,  the  men  fell  by 
scores  under  the  hail  of  musketry  and  the  sweeping  fire 
of  grape-shot  from  the  guns  of  the  enemy's  poop  and 
forecastle.  Every  gun  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
had  been  silenced  except  the  three  nine-pounders  on 
the  quarter-deck,  where  Paul  Jones  stood  giving  his 
orders  for  a  last  attempt  to  lay  the  enemy's  ship  on 
board.  One  single  hope  remained:  the  last  desperate 
possibility  that  he  could  force  the  disabled  and  doomed 
vessel  across  the  bows  of  the  Serapis. 

In  that  moment  of  agonized  suspense,  while  Pearson 
was  dropping  back  to  get  abreast  of  his  enemy,  the 
Richard  fortunately  blanketed  the  sails  of  the  Serapis 
and  slowly  forged  ahead.  All  now  depended  on  the 
wind,  that  capricious  wind  which  had  so  often  thwarted 
Jones's  well-laid  plans.    Would  it  fail  him  now? 

The  guns  of  the  Serapis  had  made  several  holes  in 


452  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  Richard's  hull  'twixt  wind  and  water,  and  the  hold 
began  to  fill,  but  still  the  ship  bore  on,  slowly  but 
surely  answering  to  the  helm.  And  suddenly  the  wind 
whispered  in  her  sails.  "Our  helm  was  put  hard  a 
weather  then,"  says  Fanning,  "the  main  and  top  sails 
then  braced  back,  a  fresh  flaw  of  wind  swelling  them 
at  the  same  instant,  which  shot  our  ship  quick  ahead, 
and  the  Serapis  ran  her  jibboom  between  our  starboard 
mizzen  shrouds." 

Jones  at  the  same  time  cried  out:  "Well  done,  my 
brave  lads,  we  have  got  her  now."  "Instantly  the 
Serapis  let  go  an  anchor,  hoping  that  the  Richard's 
headway  would  tear  the  ships  apart,  by  means  of  which 
they  would  have  escaped,"  as  Jones  relates,  "had  I  not 
made  them  well  fast  to  the  Bon  Homme  Richard."  At 
last,  after  long  months  of  waiting,  Jones  had  his  chance, 
the  one  possible  desperate  chance  which  he  had  long 
counted  on  to  win  his  victory  in  spite  of  every  disad- 
vantage. One  was  enough  for  him,  and  history  tells 
how  he  improved  it.  From  this  point  on  began  that 
unequalled  exhibition  of  personal  ascendency  which 
has  made  the  fame  of  Paul  Jones  and  given  the  re- 
nowned engagement  its  unique  place  in  the  annals  of 
naval  warfare.  And  this  moment,  when  he  at  last  grap- 
pled with  his  enemy,  was  at  once  the  crisis  and  the 
climax  of  his  career.  Springing  like  a  cat  upon  his 
prey,  he  ordered  Stacy  to  bring  him  a  hawser,  and  as 
the  officer,  fumbling  at  the  knot,  let  fall  a  sailor's  oath, 
Jones  took  it  from  his  hand,  making  the  enemy's  jib- 
stay  fast  to  the  mizzen-mast  of  the  Richard,  saying 
gravely:  "Don't  swear,  Mr.  Stacy;  we  may  at  the  next 


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"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  453 

moment  be  in  eternity,  but  let  us  do  our  duty."  The 
two  ships  now  swung  to  the  wind  and  tide.  The  Sera- 
pis,  under  the  action  of  the  wind  in  her  after-sails,  was 
turned  stern  to  the  north,  her  bowsprit  breaking  off 
at  the  same  time,  so  that  the  two  ships  swung  head  to 
stern  and  the  fluke  of  the  Serapis's  spare  anchor  hook- 
ing the  Richard's  quarter,  they  lay  close  together  with 
yards  interlocked  and  the  muzzles  of  their  guns  touch- 
ing each  others  sides. 

"A  novelty  in  naval  combats  was  now  presented," 
as  Dale  relates,  "to  many  witnesses  but  few  admirers, 
and  the  rammers  were  run  into  the  respective  ships  to 
enable  them  to  load,  to  make  room  for  running  out  the 
guns."  The  captain  of  the  Serapis  now  gave  orders  to 
shift  his  gunners  to  the  starboard  batteries,  which  had 
not  heretofore  been  brought  into  action;  their  port- 
sills,  still  lowered  and  pressed  closely  against  the  Rich- 
ard's side,  were  therefore  blown  out  and  crashed  with  the 
first  discharge  into  the  hull  of  the  American  ship.  But 
now,  although  the  incessant  thunder  of  the  enemy's 
guns  rolled  in  deafening  explosions  underneath  the 
trembling  boards  on  which  he  stood,  although  his  ship 
was  leaking  like  a  sieve  and  instant  destruction  waited 
on  each  moment,  Jones  with  perfect  calmness  prepared 
to  make  the  most  of  his  desperate  opportunity,  of  beat- 
ing his  enemy  at  close  quarters.  The  purser,  Mr. 
Mease,  who  had  commanded  the  guns  on  the  quarter- 
deck, dangerously  wounded,  was  removed  to  the  cock- 
pit, and  Jones  took  his  place,  rallying  with  great  diffi- 
culty a  few  frightened  men,  who  with  his  aid  finally 
succeeded  in  bringing  over  one  of  the  lee  guns  across 


454  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  bloody  deck,  so  that  they  had  all  three  available 
for  use  against  the  enemy. 

It  was  now  eight  o'clock,  and  a  round  harvest  moon 
lit  up  the  scene.  By  her  bright  light  they  could  see 
the  main-mast  of  the  Serapis  standing  out  blackly  clear 
amid  the  interlocking  yards  of  the  two  ships.  Against 
this  Jones  himself  directed  the  fire  of  one  of  the  guns, 
loading  it  with  double-headed  shot,  while  the  other  two, 
as  he  relates,  "were  exceedingly  well  served  with  grape 
and  cannister  shot  to  silence  the  enemies'  musketry  and 
to  clean  her  decks."  And  now,  thronging  up  from  the 
subterranean  vaults  of  the  Richard,  Dale  and  his  marines 
came  to  Jones's  assistance  and  directed  a  skilful  fire 
against  the  men  upon  the  exposed  decks  of  the  Serapis. 

The  fire  from  the  tops  which  had  been  bravely 
sustained  throughout  the  whole  action  also  seconded 
Jones's  little  battery,  driving  the  gunners  from  the  ene- 
my's quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  and  by  sheer  force 
of  superior  marksmanship  silenced  the  enemy's  mus- 
ketry and  finally  cleared  her  decks.  At  this  point,  as 
Jones  was  afterward  informed,  Pearson  had  decided  to 
strike,  when  the  carpenter  of  the  Richard,  who  was  at 
the  pumps  and  had  seen  one  of  them  disabled  by  a 
shot  from  the  enemy,  cried  out  that  the  ship  might  sink 
at  any  moment.  The  master-at-arms,  hearing  at  the 
same  instant  that  Jones  and  Dale  had  both  been  killed, 
and  believing  that  he  was  now  in  command,  rushed  up 
from  below  with  the  carpenter  and  a  gunner  to  haul 
down  the  flag.  The  flag,  fortunately,  was  gone — shot 
away  with  the  ensign  staff,  and  the  cowards  bawled 
for  quarter. 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  455 

"What  scoundrels  are  these?"  cried  Jones,  throw- 
ing both  his  pistols  at  the  head  of  the  gunner  and  fell- 
ing him  as  he  fled  in  terror  toward  the  gangway.  Back 
also  went  the  master-at-arms  and  the  carpenter,  skulk- 
ing to  their  posts.  But  now,  at  the  sound  of  the 
cry  for  quarter,  Pearson  himself  called  out  to  Jones 
asking  if  he  had  struck. 

"I  have  not  yet  begun  to  fight,"  was  the  reply 
which  flashed  back,  vivid  and  sharp  as  a  lightning 
stroke  from  out  the  battle-clouds — a  reply  as  char- 
acteristic of  the  man  as  of  the  moment,  and  justly 
renowned. 

Any  other  commander  of  ordinary  human  mould 
would  at  such  a  moment,  with  silenced  guns  and  riddled 
ship,  have  accepted  defeat;  but  Jones  knew  that  at 
last  he  had  an  advantage  over  his  terrible  antagonist, 
and  while  the  Richard  remained  afloat  he  determined 
to  use  it  to  the  last  possible  instant.  For  a  new  form 
of  naval  battle  was  about  to  be  tried  out  to  the  aston- 
ishment of  his  enemy  and  the  amazement  of  posterity 
— a  battle  not  of  cannon  but  of  musketry,  and  in 
this,  his  own  invention,  Jones  knew  that  he  had  his 
opportunity  and  a  desperate  chance  of  success.  Driven 
from  the  exposed  decks  by  the  shrewd  musket-fire  of 
Dale  and  his  marines,  the  whole  force  of  the  Serapis, 
which  was  now  massed  at  the  protected  batteries  below, 
still  poured  their  fire  against  the  hull  of  the  Richard, 
but  the  great  shot  of  the  eighteen-pounders  now  passed 
without  resistance  through  the  abandoned  main  deck 
of  the  American  ship,  falling  harmlessly  into  the  sea 
beyond,  while  the  crew  of  the  Richard,  driven  up  from 


456  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

below  and  swarming  on  the  quarter-deck  and  in  the 
tops,  poured  a  continuous  musket-fire  and  an  incessant 
rain  of  hand-grenades  and  combustibles  of  all  sorts 
upon  the  exposed  decks  of  the  enemy. 

The  men  in  the  Richard's  tops,  passing  freely  over 
the  interlocking  yards,  invaded  the  tops  of  the  enemy 
itself,  and  after  a  sharp  battle  in  the  air,  dislodged  the 
Englishmen  and  gained  a  position  in  the  main-top  of 
the  Serapis,  commanding  the  whole  extent  of  the  ship 
from  quarter-deck  to  forecastle.  At  this  desperate  mo- 
ment, standing  almost  alone  upon  the  fire-swept  deck, 
Pearson  assembled  a  party  from  below  and  attempted 
to  board  the  Richard,  but  was  met  by  a  determined 
and  superior  force  of  picket-men  headed  by  Jones  him- 
self, who  succeeded  in  beating  them  off. 

At  this  point  there  came  a  lull  in  the  continuous  roar 
of  the  cannon  and  the  deadly  rain  of  combustibles,  for 
both  ships  took  fire  from  the  explosion  of  the  hand- 
grenades,  and  all  hands  ceased  fighting  and  helped 
to  extinguish  the  flames.  The  rotten  timbers  of  the 
Richard,  soaked  with  tar  and  oakum,  blazed  persistently 
in  spite  of  all  the  water  which  was  thrown  upon  them. 
The  Serapis  was  on  fire  in  no  less  than  twelve  places, 
with  her  whole  starboard  side  ablaze,  while  above  in 
both  ships  the  light  sails  and  rigging  were  also  on  fire, 
the  flames  spreading  rapidly  from  one  ship  to  the  other, 
until  at  last,  as  Fanning  relates,  "Our  mainmast  also 
took  fire,  causing  the  greatest  consternation,  and  the 
water  which  we  had  in  a  tub  in  the  fore  part  of  the  top, 
was  expended  without  extinguishing  the  flames.  We 
then  had  recourse  to  our  coats  and  jackets,  which  in  a 


Captain  Paul  Jones  Subduing  a  Sailor  who  Attempted 

to  Strike  His  Colors  in  the  Engagement 

with  the  "serapis." 

From  a  print  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Munn. 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  457 

short  time  smothered  it . ' '  The  action  was  now  resumed 
with  added  fury,  and  again  those  flaming  airy  heights 
poured  fiery  death  upon  the  enemy's  decks.  Again 
the  thin  scream  of  musket-balls  sang  its  treble  accom- 
paniment to  the  rolling  thunder  of  the  guns. 

Below,  the  riddled  hulk  of  the  Richard  was  a  chaos  of 
corpses  and  broken  guns,  a  charnel-house  of  flame  and 
death,  belching  from  her  blood-stained  chasms  suffo- 
cating smoke-clouds  and  blinding  jets  of  fire;  above, 
the  mad  carnage  raged  among  the  bodies  of  the  slain; 
the  swarming  motley  crew,  transformed  by  the  courage 
of  their  commander  into  fearless  battle-fiends,  grasped 
every  possible  weapon,  firing  out  of  the  flame-stained 
smoke-clouds  full  in  the  faces  of  the  enemy,  and  with 
pikes  and  lances  striking  at  their  antagonists  across  the 
nettings  and  through  the  open  port-holes.  Among 
them,  hatless,  powder-stained,  Jones  stood  at  his  gun, 
cheering  them  on  with  his  great  voice,  and  again  bend- 
ing to  send  his  deadly  fire  against  the  main-mast  of  the 
enemy. 

The  fire  of  the  guns,  the  mounting  flames  from  the 
two  burning  vessels,  as  they  battled  in  a  death  embrace 
amid  the  rolling  smoke-clouds,  lit  up  the  sea,  and  the 
silent  shore  gave  back  the  reverberating  echoes  of  the 
deadly  orchestra  of  war. 

This  mad  contest  had  raged  for  about  an  hour  when 
a  black  shape  appeared  suddenly  out  of  the  darkness, 
and  amid  the  smoke-clouds  they  perceived  another 
ship,  the  Alliance,  coming  at  last,  as  they  supposed,  to 
their  assistance.  "I  thought  now  that  the  battle  was 
at  an  end,"  said  Jones,  "but  to  my  utter  surprise  he 


458  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

discharged  a  broadside  full  into  the  Bon  Homme  Rich- 
ard. We  called  to  him  for  God's  sake  to  stop  firing 
into  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  There  was  no  possi- 
bility of  his  mistaking  the  enemy's  ship  for  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  there  being  the  most  essential  differ- 
ence in  their  appearance  and  construction;  besides  it 
was  full  moonlight,  and  the  sides  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  being  all  black,  and  the  sides  of  the  prize  were 
yellow,  yet  for  the  greater  security  I  showed  the  signal 
of  our  reconnaisance  by  putting  out  three  lanthoras,  one 
at  the  head,  another  at  the  stern,  and  the  third  in  the 
middle,  in  a  horizontal  line.  Every  tongue  cried  out 
that  he  was  firing  into  the  wrong  ship,  but  nothing 
availed."  "My  situation  now,"  he  continues,  "was 
really  deplorable.  The  leak  gained  on  the  pumps,  and 
the  fire  increased  on  board  both  ships."  A  few  mo- 
ments after  this  treacherous  attack  the  Alliance,  passing 
to  leeward  across  the  bow  of  the  Richard,  sank  like 
an  evil  apparition  into  the  surrounding  darkness;  and 
again  the  contest  intermitted  while  both  crews  essayed 
to  extinguish  the  fire.  Then  another  danger  fiercer 
than  fire  itself  sprang  like  fury  at  the  throat  of 
the  American  commander.  Panic,  inhuman,  bestial, 
roared  and  surged  about  him,  for  the  five  hundred 
maddened  English  prisoners,  released  at  this  moment 
by  the  treacherous  master-at-arms,  now  rushed  up  from 
below  shrieking  that  the  ship  was  sinking.  Only  the 
power  of  the  beast-tamer — quick  as  light,  magnetic, 
unwavering — could  have  saved  Jones  now.  With 
sublime  audacity  and  instant  presence  of  mind,  he 
ordered  them  to  the  pumps,  telling  them  that  it  was 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  459 

the  Serapis  which  was  sinking,  and  that  their  lives  de- 
pended upon  keeping  the  Richard  afloat.  They  obeyed, 
this  overwhelming  force  of  Englishmen  which  at  that 
moment  could  have  captured  the  Richard  and  delivered 
her  over  to  the  enemy,  and,  commanded  by  Dale,  who 
had  courageously  assisted  Jones  at  this  crisis,  retired 
to  the  pumps  and  there  remained.  One  man  only,  the 
captain  of  the  Union,  braver  than  the  rest,  escaped 
over  the  bulwarks,  informing  Pearson  of  the  desper- 
ate plight  of  the  Richard,  and  advising  him  to  hold 
out  a  little  longer,  for  she  would  surely  be  compelled 
to  strike.  But  now  the  fortune  of  the  battle  which 
had  been  turning  surely  toward  the  English  suddenly 
favored  Jones.  The  captain  of  the  Serapis,  taking  heart 
from  the  encouraging  message  he  had  received,  still 
stood  on  the  deck,  momentarily  expecting  the  surrender 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  He  was  once  more  alone, 
having  ordered  all  hands  again  to  retire  to  the  protected 
decks  and  to  continue  firing  into  the  Richard's  hull, 
believing  that  a  few  more  broadsides  would  surely  sink 
her.  But  even  there,  "under  the  protection  of  the 
decks,"  as  Dale  relates,  "they  were  not  more  secure." 
An  American  sailor,  creeping  out  to  the  extreme  end 
of  the  main-yard  of  the  Serapis,  threw  with  shrewd  aim  a 
hand-grenade  down  upon  the  hatchway,  where,  glancing 
inward,  it  fell  into  the  midst  of  a  line  of  cartridges  on  the 
main  deck,  which  had  been  carelessly  laid  there  by  the 
powder  monkeys.  Some  of  the  cartridges  were  broken, 
and  the  scattered  powder  took  fire,  blazing  from  one 
cartridge  to  another  all  the  way  aft,  producing  a  terri- 
fying and  fatal  explosion.    "The  effect  was  tremen- 


460  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

dous,"  said  Dale,  "more  than  twenty  men  were  blown 
to  pieces,  and  many  stood  with  only  the  collars  of  their 
shirts  upon  their  bodies." 

This  was  the  actual  turning-point,  for  now  panic 
seized  upon  the  enemy,  which  was  increased  by  the 
second  appearance  of  the  Alliance,  which,  sailing  back 
again  very  close  under  the  stern  of  the  Richard,  poured 
a  deadly  scattering  fire  of  grape-shot  into  the  two 
vessels  as  they  lay  closely  bound  together  bow  and 
stern.  After  firing  this  broadside  at  the  two  vessels, 
the  Alliance  now  passed  around  the  off  side  of  the 
Richard,  still  firing,  and  finally  across  her  bow,  where 
she  killed  several  men,  including  Mr.  Caswell,  whose 
station  was  in  the  forecastle. 

The  second  appearance  of  the  Alliance,  which  was 
now  dealing  death  to  friend  and  foe  alike,  hastened  the 
issue  of  the  conflict,  and  was  perhaps  the  final  reason  of 
Pearson's  surrender,  for  he  knew  that  in  her  unharmed 
condition  the  Alliance  could  easily  have  destroyed  him, 
bound  helplessly  as  he  was  to  his  unyielding  enemy. 
But  the  broadsides  of  the  Alliance,  firing  into  the  un- 
protected sides  of  the  Richard  with  fatal  low-aimed 
shots,  and  killing  the  men  upon  her  exposed  decks,  were 
dealing  worse  destruction  to  her  consort.  Most  of  the 
enemy's  forces  were  below  and  in  no  danger  from  the 
shots  of  the  Alliance,  which  never  came  under  the  guns 
on  her  disengaged  side.  But  neither  of  the  ships  could 
bring  a  single  gun  to  bear  upon  the  Alliance,  and 
Jones's  officers  also  believed  that  it  was  time  to  give  up 
the  fight.  "Some  of  the  officers,"  he  wrote,  "in  whose 
courage  and  common  sense  I  entertained  the  highest 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  461 

opinion,  persuaded  me  to  strike;  I  would  not  however 
give  up  the  point."1 

That  deathless  valor  which  could  not  break  nor  yield, 
which  had  withstood  what  again  and  again  had  seemed 
inevitable  defeat,  now  had  its  deserved  reward.  Jones 
still  stood  motionless  upon  the  quarter-deck,  his  eyes 
fixed  narrowly  upon  the  main-mast  of  the  Serapis, 
against  which  he  had  poured  his  ceaseless  fire,  and  at 
last  he  saw  that  it  began  to  shake.  His  practised  ear 
discerned  that  the  fire  of  the  enemy  was  decreasing, 
and  in  a  last  rally  he  cheered  his  men  to  redoubled 
efforts.  "  Our  fire  increased,"  he  wrote,  "  and  the  Brit- 
ish colors  were  struck  at  one  half  hour  past  ten  o'clock." 

So  fell  the  flag  of  England,  struck  by  Captain  Pear- 
son's own  hand,  as  none  of  his  people  would  venture 
aloft  upon  the  duty;  they  were  afraid  of  the  American 
marksmanship. 

"  On  finding  that  the  flag  of  the  Serapis  had  struck," 
Dale's  narrative  continues,  "I  went  to  Captain  Jones 
and  asked  whether  I  might  board  the  Serapis,  to  which 
he  consented,  and  jumping  upon  the  gunwale  seized 
the  main  brace  pennant  and  swung  myself  upon  the 
quarterdeck.  Midshipman  Mayrant  followed  with  a 
party  of  men  and  was  immediately  run  through  the 
thigh  with  a  boarding  pike  by  some  of  the  enemy  sta- 
tioned in  the  waist,  who  had  not  been  informed  of  the 


1  Public  Advertizer,  October  20,  1776:  "One  of  the  men  escaped  from 
Paul  Jones  says  that  in  the  engagement  with  the  Serapis,  Jones,  almost 
exhausted  with  fatigue,  sat  down  upon  a  hen  coop.  The  Lieutenant 
of  Marines  went  up  to  him  and  said,  'For  God's  sake,  Captain,  strike!' 
Jones  looked  at  him,  paused  a  moment,  then  leaped  up  from  his  seat 
and  said,  'No,  I  will  sink,  I  will  never  strike.'" 


462  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

surrender  of  their  ship.  I  found  Captain  Pearson 
standing  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  quarterdeck,  and 
addressing  myself  to  him  said,  'Sir,  I  have  orders  to 
send  you  on  board  the  ship  alongside.'  The  first  lieu- 
tenant of  the  Serapis  coming  up  at  this  moment,  in- 
quired of  Captain  Pearson  whether  the  ship  alongside 
had  struck  to  him.  To  which  I  replied,  'No  Sir,  the 
contrary,  she  has  struck  to  us.'  The  lieutenant,  renew- 
ing the  inquiry,  'Have  you  struck,  sir?'  was  answered, 
'Yes,  I  have.'  The  lieutenant  replied,  'I  have  nothing 
more  to  say/  and  was  about  to  return  below  when  I 
informed  him  he  must  accompany  Captain  Pearson  on 
board  the  ship  alongside.  He  said,  'If  you  will  permit 
me  to  go  below  I  will  silence  the  firing  of  the  lower 
deck  guns/  This  request  was  refused,  and  with  Cap- 
tain Pearson  he  was  passed  over  to  the  deck  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard.  Orders  being  sent  below  to  cease 
firing,  the  engagement  terminated  after  a  most  obsti- 
nate contest  of  three  hours  and  a  half." 

After  Captain  Pearson  had  surrendered  his  ship,  he 
made  his  way  with  the  officer  to  the  deck  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  and  inquired  for  Captain  Jones.  "It 
is  painful  to  me,"  he  said,  as  he  yielded  up  his  sword  to 
the  American  captain,  "that  I  must  resign  this  to  a 
man  who  has  fought  with  a  halter  around  his  neck." 
To  this  insolent  speech  Jones  replied  with  a  compli- 
ment, saying:  "Sir,  you  have  fought  like  a  hero,  and 
I  make  no  doubt  that  your  sovereign  will  reward  you 
in  a  most  ample  manner."  The  remainder  of  this  con- 
versation, as  reported  by  Fanning,  disclosed  that  the 
Englishman  was  shamed  into  a  more  courteous  atti- 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  463 

tude  by  the  gallantry  of  his  victorious  opponent.  Cap- 
tain Pearson  then  asked  Jones  what  countrymen  his 
crew  principally  consisted  of.  The  latter  said  American. 
"Very  well,"  said  the  former,  "it  has  been  diamond  cut 
diamond." 

The  lashings  were  now  cut  which  bound  the  two  ves- 
sels together,  when  the  mast  of  the  Serapis,  which  had 
only  been  sustained  by  the  interlocking  yards  of  the 
Richard,  went  overboard,  carrying  the  mizzen-mast 
with  it.  Jones  now  placed  Dale  in  command  of  the 
Serapis  with  orders  to  follow  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
On  going  on  board  the  prize  and  giving  directions  to 
back  the  ship  to  the  rear  of  the  Richard,  Dale  was  as- 
tounded to  find  that  the  Serapis  would  not  answer, 
although  the  head  sails  were  aback  and  no  after-sail 
set.  In  the  greatest  excitement  Dale  jumped  off  the 
binnacle,  where  he  had  been  sitting,  to  investigate  the 
reason  of  the  extraordinary  circumstance,  and  fell  head- 
long to  the  deck.  A  splinter  from  one  of  the  guns  had 
badly  wounded  his  leg,  but  he  had  been  unconscious  of  it 
until  that  moment.  The  sailing-master  of  the  Serapis 
now  accosted  Dale,  informing  him  that  he  judged  by 
his  orders  that  he  was  ignorant  that  the  ship  was  at 
anchor,  another  fact  which  had  escaped  his  attention. 
Henry  Lunt  had  by  this  time  made  his  appearance  and 
was  on  board  the  prize,  and  to  him  Dale  gave  orders 
to  go  below  to  cut  the  cable  and  take  command  of  the 
Serapis,  when  he  was  carried  on  board  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  to  have  his  wound  dressed. 

The  battle  with  the  English  was  now  over,  and  the 
beautiful  Serapis,  dismantled  and  beaten,  lay  at  the  heel 


464  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  her  victor.  "I  had  yet  two  enemies  to  encounter, 
far  more  formidable  than  the  British,  fire  and  water," 
wrote  Jones.  The  smouldering  timbers  of  the  Richard 
again  burst  into  flame,  and  the  fire  raged  persistently, 
at  one  time  approaching  within  a  few  inches  of  the 
powder-magazine,  when,  fearing  that  the  ship  would 
blow  up,  Jones  ordered  the  powder  to  be  thrown  over- 
board, while  all  hands  worked  through  the  night  to  ex- 
tinguish the  flames,  succeeding  at  last  in  subduing  them. 
"With  respect  to  the  situation  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard"  Jones's  narrative  continues,  "the rudder  was 
entirely  cut  away  from  the  stern  frame,  the  timbers  of 
the  lower  deck  especially,  from  the  main  mast  to  the 
stern  being  greatly  decayed  with  age,  were  mangled  be- 
yond my  powers  of  description,  and  a  person  must  have 
been  an  eye  witness  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  tre- 
mendous scene  of  the  carnage,  wreck  and  ruin  which 
everywhere  appeared.  I  was  determined  to  keep  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  afloat  and  if  possible  to  bring 
her  into  port."  The  pumps  were  now  manned  with  a 
double  force  of  men  from  the  Pallas,  who  worked  with 
unremitting  zeal,  but  in  spite  of  their  utmost  efforts, 
the  water  gained  in  the  hold,  entering  by  the  great 
holes  which  were  in  the  bow,  caused  by  the  shots  of  the 
Alliance  and  by  every  gaping  aperture  of  the  riddled 
ship.  At  last,  after  a  careful  examination,  the  car- 
penters announced  that  it  was  impossible  to  stop  the 
holes,  and  Jones  was  convinced  that  with  the  slightest 
rise  of  the  wind  it  would  be  impossible  to  bring  the 
ship  into  port,  so  he  gave  orders  to  immediately 
begin  the  business  of  removing  the  wounded.    Until 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD "  AND  "SERAPIS"  465 

this  was  accomplished,  he  commanded  the  English  pris- 
oners to  remain  on  board,  but,  superior  as  they  were  in 
numbers  to  the  guard  which  was  left  on  the  ship,  they 
succeeded  in  getting  her  head  to  the  land,  toward  which 
a  fresh  breeze  was  now  blowing.  Unarmed,  they  were 
subdued  after  a  struggle,  two  of  them  being  shot  in 
the  mel6e  and  a  number  eventually  succeeding  in  get- 
ting hold  of  a  boat  and  escaping  to  the  shore. 

The  day  of  the  24th  was  passed  in  transferring  the 
wounded  to  the  Serapis,  and  the  next  day,  the  wind 
blowing  fresh,  Jones  realized  that  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  the  "good  old  ship  from  sinking."  All  day  the 
Pallas  stood  by  her,  while  the  water  steadily  rose  and 
finally  filled  the  hold.  At  nine  it  became  necessary  to 
abandon  her,  and  at  ten  she  rolled,  settling  forward, 
and  went  down  bows  first,  her  stern  and  mizzen-mast 
rising  out  of  the  waves,  and  the  next  instant,  as  Jones 
wrote,  "I  saw  with  inexpressible  grief  the  last  glimps 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard."  The  instrument  and  sac- 
rifice of  her  captain's  renown,  her  shattered  hulk  was  a 
glorious  receptacle  for  the  bodies  of  the  brave  who  had 
so  desperately  defended  her. 

In  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  captains  of  the  three 
other  ships,  Cottineau,  of  the  Pallas,  alone  behaved 
with  proper  professional  skill  or  courage,  and  by  his 
excellent  handling  of  his  slow-sailing  merchant-ship, 
succeeded  in  taking  the  Countess  of  Scarborough.  Al- 
though superior  in  guns  to  his  smaller  but  infinitely 
better-built  antagonist,  he  was  met  by  a  stubborn  re- 
sistance, and  only  captured  his  prize  after  an  hour's 
hard  fighting.    This  loyal  and  efficient  assistance  at 


466  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  hour  of  battle  went  far  to  atone  for  the  cautious  re- 
serve which  he  had  shown  in  his  refusal  to  assist  Jones 
in  plans  which  appeared  to  his  slow  and  less  inspired 
judgment  to  be  unwise.  Captain  Ricot,  of  the  Ven- 
geance, held  off  discreetly  in  the  rear  and  took  no  part 
in  the  contest;  no  more  did  Mr.  Henry  Lunt  with  his 
fifteen  men,  who  also  held  off,  "thinking  it  was  not 
prudent  to  approach  the  ship  during  the  engagement," 
although  after  the  ships  had  grappled  it  must  always 
have  been  feasible  to  board  the  disengaged  side  of  the 
Richard.  Mr.  Lunt  lived  probably  to  bitterly  regret 
his  decision,  and  to  suffer  with  unavailing  sorrow  the  in- 
effaceable stain  upon  his  reputation. 

The  conduct  of  the  captain  of  the  Alliance,  recalci- 
trant and  insulting  from  the  first,  developed  on  this 
occasion  into  a  unique  exhibition  of  cowardice  and 
treachery  which  afterward  occasioned  a  serious  investi- 
gation and  brought  about  his  ultimate  ruin. 

The  track  of  the  Alliance,  from  the  first  moment 
when  the  squadron  perceived  the  Baltic  fleet,  gives  a 
truthful  representation  of  the  mental  processes  of  the 
man  who  directed  it.  Disregarding  Jones's  orders  for 
forming  in  line  to  engage,  Landais  bore  on  with  his 
superior  speed  past  the  commodore's  ship  directly 
toward  the  Serapis,  giving  the  impression  that  at  last 
he  was  about  to  exhibit  a  proper  spirit  and  to  engage 
the  enemy  with  the  vessel  which  was  in  every  respect 
better  fitted  to  meet  her.  The  hopes  of  the  officers 
who  watched  his  course  were  soon  disappointed,  for  he 
sailed  by  the  Serapis,  taking  a  position  out  of  gunshot, 
where  he  could  watch  events  in  safety.    From  this 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  467 

position  he  viewed  the  conflict  until  the  moment  when 
the  two  ships  had  been  lashed  together  and  were  bat- 
tling in  their  death  embrace. 

Perfectly  conscious  of  the  desperately  wounded  con- 
dition of  his  consort,  and  perceiving  plainly  the  murder- 
ous broadsides  of  the  enemy,  which  were  belching  de- 
struction from  her  double  decks  against  the  silent  and 
helpless  sides  of  the  Richard,  he  saw  that  the  two  comba- 
tants, secured  as  they  were  by  the  anchor  of  the  Serapis, 
remained  motionless  in  one  place.  He  then  sailed 
toward  them  out  of  pistol-shot,  and  poured  a  deliberate 
fire  with  grape-shot,  which  he  knew  would  scatter,  full 
into  the  stern  of  the  Richard  and  the  bow  of  the  Sera- 
pis,  although  he  was  perfectly  aware  that  by  approach- 
ing nearer  he  could  fire  accurately  into  the  enemy 
without  danger  to  the  Richard.  After  this  he  bore  on 
to  see  what  had  happened  to  the  Pallas;  he  found  that 
she  had  captured  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  and  hail- 
ing first  one  vessel  and  then  the  other,  he  sailed  hesi- 
tatingly round  and  round  them  both,  until  Cottineau 
asked  him  whether  it  was  his  intention  to  take  charge 
of  the  prize  and  permit  him  to  go  to  the  assistance  of 
the  disabled  flag-ship,  or  whether  he  would  go  to 
Jones's  aid  himself. 

Every  moment  in  that  desperate  battle  was  fraught 
with  fate  to  the  Richard,  but  determined  that  Cottineau 
should  be  prevented  from  helping  Jones,  Landais  finally 
stood  off  again  toward  his  consort;  sailing  discreetly  far 
out  of  the  range  of  the  enemy's  guns  on  her  disengaged 
side,  he  came  around  the  stern  and  larboard  side  of  the 
Richard,  so  closely  at  last  that  he  was  not  more  than 


468  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

three  points  abaft  her  beam,  when,  in  spite  of  the  signals 
of  reconnoissance  which  Jones  had  hung  out  after  his 
first  broadside,  in  spite  of  the  chorus  of  voices  which 
implored  him  not  to  sink  them,  he  poured  a  second 
full  broadside  of  deadly  low-aimed  shots  under  the 
water,  full  into  her  helpless  hull,  continuing  his  course 
until  he  was  in  front  of  the  Richard's  bow,  when  he 
poured  his  third  broadside  into  the  prow  of  his  consort. 

His  reasons  for  these  actions  are  only  too  clear.  He 
intended  to  keep  out  of  all  danger  to  himself.  He 
wished  and  intended  to  sink  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
and  to  capture  the  Serapis,  which  was  already  beaten 
by  Jones,  and  thus  claim  the  credit  for  himself.  Among 
the  several  points  to  which  the  officers  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  and  the  Alliance  alike  testified  in  the 
accusations  which  were  formally  drawn  up  against  Pierre 
Landais  are  two  statements,  one  made  by  Weibert  and 
one  by  Stack  and  McCarthy,  of  the  Irish  regiment,  tes- 
tifying that  Landais  had  acknowledged  that  in  firing 
at  both  the  vessels  he  had  purposely  used  grape-shot, 
which  he  knew  would  scatter,  and  that  he  "thought  it 
no  harm  if  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  had  struck,  for  it 
would  have  given  him  an  opportunity  to  retake  her  and 
to  take  the  Serapis" 

The  evident  fact  that  his  final  appearance  was  a 
factor  in  Pearson's  surrender  was  persistently  claimed 
by  Landais  as  the  cause  of  the  victory,  and  he  main- 
tained from  the  hour  of  the  battle  until  the  close  of  his 
dishonored  life  that  it  was  he  who  had  taken  the 
Serapis.  The  cunning  of  the  demi  fou,  to  which  dan- 
gerous class  of  afflicted  humanity  Pierre  Landais  un- 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  469 

questionably  belonged,  is  shown  in  all  of  his  actions, 
together  with  the  suspicion,  cowardice,  and  treachery 
which  represented  the  controlling  elements  in  his  hope- 
lessly deranged  and  malignant  character.  His  conduct 
in  refusing  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  his  sinking 
consort  after  the  battle  was  over  was  an  action  whose 
import,  admitting  of  no  discussion  or  defence  whatever, 
adds  the  clearest  sort  of  corroborative  testimony  in  re- 
gard to  the  treacherous  motives  which  directed  his  con- 
duct during  the  engagement,  and  to  the  persistent  hos- 
tility of  his  attitude  toward  Jones  from  the  beginning 
of  the  cruise.  The  ultimate  results  of  his  conduct  were 
far  from  carrying  out  his  animosity  toward  Jones,  for 
the  credit  of  the  capture  of  the  Serapis  remained  wholly 
with  the  man  whom  he  considered  to  be  his  rival, 
and  his  desertion  and  treacherous  attitude  served  to 
enhance  the  glory  of  Jones's  victory.  When  he  received 
orders  through  Captain  Ricot,  of  the  Vengeance,  to  take 
a  position  astern  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  in  the 
return  voyage,  he  told  Ricot  insolently  to  "go  tell  the 
commodore  that  he  may  go  where  he  pleases." 

The  results  of  the  renowned  engagement,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  killed  and  wounded,  are  impossible  to  calculate 
with  accuracy,  owing  to  the  confessedly  incomplete  ac- 
count which  was  sent  in  by  the  surgeon  of  the  Serapis 
to  the  admiralty.  This  report  admits  to  seventy-five 
wounded,  of  which  eight  died  of  their  injuries,  but 
Pearson  states  in  his  report  that  there  were  many  more 
whom  he  had  been  unable  to  account  for.  Jones  states 
that  the  number  of  wounded  in  the  Serapis  was  more 
than  a  hundred,  and  that  the  killed  were  probably  as 


470  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

numerous.  As  the  victor  and  guardian  of  the  prisoners 
and  wounded  of  the  prize,  he  was  in  a  better  position 
to  know  their  number  than  Pearson.  Jones  reported 
the  loss  on  the  Richard  to  have  been  forty-nine  killed 
and  sixty-seven  wounded  out  of  his  crew,  which  by  the 
loss  of  the  barge  and  the  two  companies  of  men  under 
Cutting  and  Henry  Lunt,  amounted  to  three  hundred 
at  the  time  of  the  engagement. 

The  records  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  were  badly 
kept,  due  probably  to  the  absence  of  Jones's  two  officers, 
and  in  the  haste  of  removing  the  wounded  were  lost 
when  the  ship  went  down.  The  Countess  of  Scar- 
borough lost  four  killed  and  twenty  wounded.  The  loss 
on  the  Pallas  was  slight,  and  neither  the  Alliance  nor  the 
Vengeance  had  one  man  killed  or  one  gun  disabled. 

The  method  which  Paul  Jones  pursued  in  the  engage- 
ment was  up  to  that  time  entirely  unprecedented  in 
the  history  of  naval  warfare.  Conscious  of  the  hope- 
less inferiority  of  the  old,  worn-out,  and  unseaworthy 
ship  under  his  command,  he  had  filled  her  to  overflow- 
ing with  a  far  larger  crew  than  was  at  that  time  the 
custom,  relying  on  his  chance  of  grappling  with  the 
fast-sailing  war-ships  of  England,  and  the  hope  of 
winning  victory  by  an  overwhelming  fire  of  musketry. 
To  this  end  also  he  had  well  lined  his  tops,  and  sup- 
plied his  ship  with  a  large  variety  of  combustibles. 
This  method,  invented  by  Paul  Jones,  was  gloriously 
followed  by  Nelson  in  his  immortal  engagements;  but 
the  credit  of  the  conception  must  always  remain  with 
its  inventor. 

The  account  of  the  battle  as  written  by  the  two  cap- 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  471 

tains  of  the  opposing  vessels  disagrees  in  no  important 
particular,  except  in  the  amount  of  damage  done  to  the 
Serapis  by  the  Alliance,  Pearson  asserting  that  her 
broadsides  caused  him  to  surrender,  while  Jones  ex- 
plicitly states  that  the  Alliance  killed  but  one  man  on 
board  the  Serapis.  Otherwise  the  two  reports  are 
almost  identical  as  to  the  succeeding  stages  of  the 
conflict.  The  account  of  Richard  Dale,  written  at  the 
request  of  Sherburne  some  forty  years  after  the  battle, 
although  seamanlike  and  very  interesting,  differs  some- 
what from  the  reports  of  Pearson  and  Jones,  for  the 
evident  reason  that  Dale's  memory  had  not  preserved 
all  the  details,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  during  the 
first  stages  of  the  battle  he  was  at  his  station  below  on 
the  main  deck,  and  therefore  not  a  witness  of  the  first 
part  of  the  engagement.  His  account  of  the  first  evo- 
lutions of  the  ships  is  therefore  not  to  be  implicitly 
relied  on,  and  certainly  not  to  be  taken  in  preference 
to  those  of  Jones  and  Pearson.  He  states  that  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  passed  before  the  first  broadside  across 
the  forefoot  of  the  Serapis,  and  that  the  Serapis,  after 
the  first  broadside,  went  in  turn  across  the  bows  of  the 
Richard.  These  statements  are  both  incorrect.  Sail- 
ing northeast  along  the  lower  side  of  the  triangular 
promontory  of  Flamborough  Head  to  meet  the  Serapis, 
which  was  sailing  down  southeast  along  the  upper 
side  of  the  triangle,  the  two  ships  both  turned  their 
heads  sharply  toward  land,  the  Richard  "bringing  to," 
as  Pearson  explicitly  states,  on  the  port  side  of  the 
Serapis.  At  no  time  previous  to  the  final  execution  of 
the  manoeuvre  of  laying  the  enemy  athwart  hawse,  at 


472  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

the  moment  when  Jones  succeeded  in  grappling  the 
enemy,  did  the  Richard  pass  across  the  forefoot  of  the 
Serapis.  At  no  time  did  the  Serapis  pass  entirely 
across  the  forefoot  of  the  Richard,  although  once  Pear- 
son attempted  the  manoeuvre,  as  shown  in  Position  4 
of  the  diagram.  The  first  manoeuvres  of  the  ships  as 
mentioned  above  were  unfortunately  omitted  in  the 
reports  of  the  respective  commanders,  but  the  Serapis, 
by  her  superior  sailing  and  facility  in  handling,  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  behind  the  Richard's  stern  and  in 
raking  her  several  times. 

In  the  account  of  the  conflict  written  by  Admiral 
Mahan,  the  author  takes  note  of  the  statement  of  Na- 
thaniel Fanning,  that  the  Serapis  succeeded  several 
times  in  raking  the  Richard,  but  remarks  that  if  this 
occurred,  it  did  not  necessarily  prove  that  the  Serapis 
ever  crossed  over  to  the  port  side  of  the  Richard. 
Other  proofs  that  this  manoeuvre  was  never  executed, 
and  that  the  starboard  range  of  guns  was  not  brought 
into  play  until  the  Richard  had  grappled  with  the  en- 
emy and  passed  to  her  other  side,  are  found  in  the 
statement  that  the  port-sills  of  the  starboard  side  of  the 
Serapis  had  not  been  raised,  and  were  blown  out  in  the 
first  fire,  which  took  place  when  the  two  ships  had  been 
lashed  together  head  and  stern;  as  well  as  by  the  many- 
times  attested  and  corroborated  statement  of  the  offi- 
cers in  regard  to  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Alliance,  which 
indicate  with  absolute  certainty  and  great  lucidity  that 
the  Serapis  was  never  on  the  port  side  of  the  Richard. 

In  article  19 1  of  the  charges  against  Landais,  it  is 

1  Appendix  G. 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  473 

stated  that  "as  the  most  dangerous  shots  which  the 
Richard  received  under  water  were  under  the  larboard 
(port)  bow  and  quarter,  they  must  have  come  from 
the  Alliance,  for  the  Serapis  was  on  the  other  side.11  "  As 
Landais's  honor,  if  not  his  life,"  Admiral  Mahan  con- 
tinues, "was  at  stake  in  these  charges,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  his  officers,  besides  two  French  marine 
officers,  four  of  whom  were  especially  well  situated  for 
seeing,  would  have  made  this  statement  if  the  Serapis 
had  at  any  time  been  in  a  position  to  fire  those  shots." 
The  weight  of  this  testimony  is  so  conclusive  that  the 
present  writer  has  seen  no  reason  for  discrediting  the 
account  of  Nathaniel  Fanning,  who  was  in  the  tops 
from  the  beginning  of  the  engagement,  and  who  has 
alone  furnished  the  details  of  the  first  manoeuvres  of 
the  Serapis  when  she  succeeded  in  keeping  behind  the 
Richard  and  raking  her  stern. 

The  fact  that  all  of  Colonel  Chamillard's  men  on  the 
poop  were  immediately  cut  off  is  in  itself  strong  evi- 
dence of  a  repeated  fire  against  the  rear  of  the  vessel. 
Mr.  Caswell,  on  the  forecastle,  was  killed  two  hours 
later,  when  the  Alliance  passed  across  the  bow  of  the 
Richard. 

The  opinions  of  Jones's  co-officers  were  warmly  ap- 
preciative and  lack  nothing  of  the  proper  meed  of 
honor  which  they  immediately  recognized  as  his  due. 
Richard  Dale,  with  whom  Jones  enjoyed  the  closest 
relations,  and  who  referred  to  his  glorious  commander 
in  intimate  terms  of  affectionate  admiration  until  the 
close  of  his  life,  gives  him  full  measure  of  credit  for  the 
victory: 


474  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

"From  the  commencement  until  the  termination  of 
the  action,  there  was  not  a  man  on  board  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  ignorant  of  the  superiority  of  the 
Serapis,  both  in  weight  of  metal  and  in  the  qualities 
of  the  crews.  The  crew  of  that  ship  were  picked  sea- 
men, and  the  ship  itself  had  been  only  a  few  months  off 
the  stocks;  whereas,  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme  Rich- 
ard consisted  of  part  American,  English  and  French, 
and  in  part  of  Maltese,  Portuguese  and  Malays;  These 
latter  contributing  by  their  want  of  naval  skill  and 
knowledge  of  the  English  language,  to  depress  rather 
than  to  elevate  a  just  hope  of  success  in  a  combat 
under  such  circumstances.  Neither  the  consideration 
of  the  relative  force  of  the  ships,  the  act  of  the  blow- 
ing up  of  the  gun  deck  above  them  by  the  bursting 
of  two  of  the  eighteen  pounders,  nor  the  alarm  that 
the  ship  was  sinking,  could  depress  the  ardour  or  change 
the  determination  of  the  brave  captain  Jones,  his  offi- 
cers and  men.  Neither  the  repeated  broadsides  of  the 
Alliance,  given  with  the  view  of  sinking  or  disabling 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  the  frequent  necessity  of  sus- 
pending combat  to  extinguish  the  flames,  which  several 
times  were  within  a  few  inches  of  the  powder  magazine, 
nor  the  liberation  by  the  master-at-arms  of  nearly  five 
hundred  prisoners,  could  change  or  weaken  the  purpose 
of  the  American  commander." 

Colonel  Chamillard,  another  eye-witness  and  partic- 
ipant in  the  engagement,  who  had  loyally  assisted 
Jones  from  the  outset  of  the  cruise,  has  left  a  most 
generous  testimony  of  his  admiration  for  his  famous 
associate,  and  seems  to  have  realized  from  the  hour  of 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD' '  AND  "SERAPIS"  475 

the  battle  the  height  and  quality  of  Jones's  achieve- 
ment. Intrusted  with  the  official  report  of  the  cruise, 
which  he  carried  post-haste  to  Paris,  he  received  the 
first  impression  of  the  instant  appreciation  of  Jones's 
victory,  which  spread  rapidly  throughout  Europe, 
arousing  the  highest  enthusiasm  at  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles, and  a  panic  of  terror  and  rage  at  the  court  of 
Saint  James. 

Passy,  9  October  1779. 
At  noon. 

General,  I  delivered  your  despatches  to  M.  de  Sar- 
tine  and  to  Franklin,  who  both  appeared  to  me  to  be 
enchanted  with  your  exploits,  as  well  as  every  one  who 
has  any  knowledge  of  the  battle. 

Your  combat  of  the  23rd.  places  you  in  the  rank  of 
the  greatest  men,  and  immortalizes  you.  You  see  by 
the  hour  of  my  arrival  at  Paris,  and  that  of  my  de- 
parture from  the  Texel,  that  I  have  lost  no  time.  I 
expect  that  these  gentlemen  will  direct  me  to  rejoin 
you,  which  I  greatly  desire.  I  find  the  best  possible 
disposition  in  this  country  towards  you,  and  a  desire 
to  give  you  ample  satisfaction  in  everything  which  you 
may  ask. 

Adieu  General,  good  health  and  a  little  patience,  and 
all  will  go  well. 

I  am,  with  the  truest  attachment, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

Chamillard. 
To  Captain  John  Paul  Jones. 

A  description  of  the  engagement  from  the  pen  of  a 
high  English  authority,1  while  dealing,  with  the  extreme 

1  Professor  Laughton. 


476  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

of  insular  prejudice  and  injustice,  with  Jones's  personal 
character,  gives  unstinted  praise  to  his  conduct  of  the 
battle: 

Throughout  the  action  Jones'  conduct  as  the  captain 
of  a  ship  of  war  is  beyond  all  praise.  His  ship  was  in 
every  way  inferior  to  the  Sera-pis,  and  Pearson  was  a 
man  of  known  courage  and  good  repute.  I  do  not 
think,  though  every  American  writer  thinks,  that  Jones 
took  the  Serapis  not  only  single  handed,  but  against 
the  treasonable  assistance  of  Landais  on  the  Alliance. 
I  think,  though  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  every  Ameri- 
can writer,  that  it  was  the  mere  presence  of  the  Alli- 
ance that  determined  the  result.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  I  think  it  is  impossible  to  overrate  the  ability, 
the  pluck,  the  determination,  and  the  presence  of  mind 
with  which  Jones  fought  and  won  the  battle.  The 
Alliance  gave  Pearson  an  excuse  for  striking  his  flag. 
It  was  Jones,  and  Jones  alone,  rather  than  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  who  first  beat  him  to  a  standstill. 

The  opinion  of  his  only  professional  biographer,  Cap- 
tain McKenzie  of  the  United  States  navy,  concise  and 
free  from  any  partisan  exaggeration,  may  also  be  quoted 
as  the  deliberate  and  unanimous  judgment  of  the  coun- 
try whose  cause  he  had  so  ardently  adopted,  whose 
independence  he  had  so  nobly  helped  to  achieve: 

The  conduct  of  Jones  throughout  this  battle  dis- 
played the  greatest  skill  and  the  noblest  heroism.  He 
carried  his  ship  into  action  in  the  most  gallant  style, 
and  while  he  commanded  with  ability,  excited  his  fol- 
lowers by  his  personal  example.  We  find  him  in  the 
course  of  action,  himself  assisting  to  lash  the  ships 
together,  aiding  in  the  service  of  the  only  battery  from 


"BON  HOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SERAPIS"  477 

which  a  fire  was  still  kept  up,  and  when  the  Serapis 
attempted  to  board,  rushing  pike  in  hand  to  meet  and 
repel  the  assailants.  No  difficulties  or  perplexities 
seemed  to  appall  him  or  disturb  his  judgment,  and  his 
courage  and  skill  were  equalled  by  his  immoveable  self 
composure.  The  achievement  of  this  victory  was  solely 
due  to  his  brilliant  display  of  all  the  qualities  essential 
to  the  formation  of  a  great  naval  commander. 

In  the  decayed  and  ill-contrived  old  ship  in  which  he 
found  himself  cast  out  upon  the  ocean,  in  a  scarcely 
seaworthy  condition  from  the  first,  and  having  under 
his  orders  a  motley  collection  of  officers  and  seamen 
from  almost  every  country,  he  fought  a  battle  which 
for  stubborn  and  resolute  courage  and  triumphant  suc- 
cess, is  unsurpassed  by  any  sea  fight  of  ancient  or 
modern  times.  This  is  a  service  the  value  of  which 
will  be  felt  in  its  animating  and  encouraging  example, 
as  long  as  we  continue  to  have  a  name  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

The  immediate  personal  results  of  the  engagement 
were  commensurate  with  Jones's  infinite  desire  for  re- 
nown. At  last  the  glory-haunted  brain  saw  its  fond 
visions  realized,  and  from  his  baptism  of  fire  the  po- 
tential hero  leaped  full-fledged  into  immortality.  His 
noble  conceptions,  by  the  aid  of  his  unequalled  deter- 
mination and  his  great  professional  capacity,  forced 
themselves  at  last,  even  with  the  poorest  of  means,  into 
the  reality  of  visible  achievement.  Unconquered  and 
unconquerable,  in  spite  of  his  unparalleled  hindrances, 
he  stood  revealed  at  last  for  what  he  was. 

No  further  triumphs  awaited  him  in  the  ensuing 
years;  no  great  fleets  were  ever  placed  under  his  capable 
command;  this  was  his  unique  and  crowning  achieve- 


478  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 

ment.  In  spite  of  his  difficulties  and  because  of  them, 
this  unforgettable  exhibition  of  his  personal  quality 
and  potentiality  raised  him  at  once  to  equal  rank  with 
the  greatest  naval  commanders  of  history. 

His  astonishing  reply  to  Pearson,  when  asked  if  he 
had  surrendered  his  doomed  and  sinking  ship,  expressed 
in  his  characteristic  simple  phrase,  "I  have  not  yet 
begun  to  fight,"  has  become  a  national  battle-cry,  and 
is  his  password  to  the  company  of  heroes. 


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